Snape Chronicles: Prisoner of Hogwarts
by RabidOrochimaruOtaku
Summary: What would happen if a descendant of Slytherin, no other blood relations to Voldemort, came to Hogwarts and fell in love with their parents' godchild? What if they could control things with Music, of all things? What if they knew Sirius Black as a friend instead of an enemy? Don't kill me, I couldn't resist! Sev is OOC, no slash.
1. Prologue: Missing

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/emphasis_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"I know you hate kids, but can't you make an exception?" the woman pled desperately, her eyes filling with the threat of tears. She carried a small pink bundle in her arms, one that scared her thoroughly.

"No," the ebony haired male retorted angrily, the child in the woman's arms wailing and getting on his final nerve. This one was just like all the other children he saw – just younger. His cold eyes registered the woman's chocolate brown locks, and looked at the infant's tiny black ones.

"Severus, please, I beg of you – take her away from me!" she pled, and the potions master glared at her cruelly as he pointed his wand at her. He knew it was her house, but he also didn't want the child to become a wrench in his plans.

"No," he glared. "I will not make an exception for anyone except the Dark Lord, and you aren't doing this on his orders. You leave me no choice, Sarabella."

"Severus, no!" she pled, but it was no good.

"OBLIVIATE!" he yelled, and the woman's eyes misted over as she fell onto her couch, the baby girl's wailing reaching an unbearable amount. "I will make no exceptions until I have no choice. This meeting never happened."

"Severus," the woman whispered in her sleep as he looked around.

"Now, where did you hide that Ocarina? I know you hid it from the Dark Lord, as only a witch or wizard from Slytherin's descent can use it. Ah," he grinned, grabbing it from its hiding place. He waved his wand, and a dust one appeared, one that would cast a powerful curse upon the person who tried to steal it.

As the wailing continued, he looked at the child. Sarabella refused to even look at this Ocarina for fear of its powers, but he somehow knew that the wailing infant in her arms was destined to have it for her own gain. Even now, the infant reached out to him, or was it for the Ocarina itself? Either way, Snape hid the Ocarina in the folds of his cloak as he left her house.

"It's best this way," he growled, squashing what little emotion he had for the child in his desperate comrade's arms. "Besides, as long as I have the Ocarina, then I can ensure that it will go to the rightful owner of it when she enters Hogwarts."

.o0O0o.

"How did she die?" he heard Minerva McGonagall ask ten years later. They were all gathered as the Order of the Phoenix once more – or what was left of it.

"Sirius Black," the old woman rasped, tears flowing down her cheeks. "He killed her – he left a note in her blood on the walls."

"What?" some of the other members asked incredulously. "When?"

"Just after he killed her, I presume," she replied shakily. "It said 'Give me Wormtail, or the child will die.' I don't know what he meant, though – Sarabella's child was never claimed by its father."

"I think we should keep an eye out for things suspicious," Flitwick squeaked. "And find that child."

"No need for that last one," Severus Snape finally spoke up. "She will come to us. Wormtail will use her as a spy, if he gets that bright idea in his head. If not – well, then the child is royally screwed over and I'll take care of both Wormtail _and _Black myself."

"Severus," McGonagall said at last. "You know what he meant? Who – or what – is Wormtail? And – you know the child?"

"I should – Sarabella was one of my few friends," he said coldly. "She begged for me to become her daughter's godfather, but I refused. I didn't want the child growing up in the Dark Lord's shadows and in the middle of a war. Sarabella was at least in a muggle community where the child was safe – until Black found her."

"So…Wormtail…" she trailed off, and he sighed.

"Is Pettigrew," Snape replied. "He's an illegal animagus, a rat. One that I've seen frequently these past few years - The Weasley family has been housing him unsuspectingly."

"I think we bring someone that Peter would trust," Dumbledore spoke up finally. "Perhaps Remus Lupin?"

"You're out of your mind!" Snape yelled, jerking up off his chair. "Have you forgotten already? Or do I need to remind you why I'm protecting Potter in the first place aside from Lily's friendship with me?"

"I am more than aware, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly. "However, I feel the need to find the child first and ensure her safety. You and Minerva will work on this together until school begins. Molly, you and Arthur protect Harry as you have last summer. Severus – I feel the need that you become an animagus, just as Minerva is. Give them the same reason – and to also protect your god-daughter, just in case they don't believe you."

"Yes, Headmaster," Snape grumbled, considering what his animagus form could be. Something sinister, evil, hated. McGonagall was a cat, but he needed something to help him on both sides. He shuddered at the thought of a penguin.

"Fillius, Argus, be ready for the students to arrive. Tell Hagrid that we have a first year – I wish for Hagrid to accompany me while Severus is at the ministry filling out the paperwork to become an animagus," Dumbledore continued as though Snape hadn't spoken. "Also, could the heads of houses be so kind as to tell the ghosts to inform us whenever a rat with a missing finger is seen throughout your dormitories?"

"Yes, sir," they all chorused.

"I'll let the other ghosts know as well," Professor Binns said with a nod.

"Headmaster," Snape said hesitantly. "What if it isn't a Snake?"

"What?" they all asked in shock.

"Well, if I am to be a spy in this," Severus argued. "I would prefer an animal that would be able to communicate and not arouse suspicions from both sides. The dark lord would trust a snake since he is a Parselmouth, and Potter would as well, unsuspectingly."

"Well chosen, Severus," Dumbledore said with his blue eyes twinkling. "So long as young Harry does not suspect who you are. You are dismissed."

The witches and wizards scattered throughout the castle, some to the countryside, and Snape headed straight to Hogsmeade to apparate to the ministry of Magic. After hours of paperwork, and a bombardment of questions, he was finally relented into becoming an animagus, and for the first time ever, he shifted.

He immediately felt himself shrinking, his stomach twisting into knots. He closed his eyes to focus, furrowing his brow, clenching his jaw. He felt saliva surge into his mouth, but it soon appeared under his teeth as well. He could feel his arms and legs growing numb, and the rest of him hitting the ice-cold floor. He breathed deeply, somehow his nose not working right, and flicked his tongue out. Wait – tongue?

He opened his eyes to near blindness, and his body small. He could feel the vibrations in the floors of the people backing away quickly, and smelled their fear. He closed his eyes once more and focused on becoming human. No change.

"Shit!" he yelled out in a panic, not knowing what was going on. He was stuck, and had no way out. He felt a hand lift him off of the ground, and vaguely recognized the scent – Dumbledore.

"Peace, Severus," the man said, but Snape couldn't hear it. He panicked, and a tabby cat walked up to him.

"Well done, Severus," McGonagall purred. "Even I did not accomplish a full transformation on my first try. I found it much easier to change back into a human."

"Then tell me how to change back," he hissed angrily.

"Relax," she soothed, swiping her tail over him. "Think of a reason to return to being human."

"Easy for you to say," he retorted as he coiled atop her back just before she leapt down onto the ground off of the headmaster's shoulder. He sighed as best he could in this new form, and thought long and hard. What was his reason for staying human? He had none. Except…

He concentrated on that one, single fleeting thought that he had hitherto thought of as a curse until now. He felt his gut return to having knots in it, his arms and legs returned to their normal feelings, and his world returned to normal size. He wanted to puke, and had the strangest urge to eat Pettigrew. He clenched his gut with his arms, and clamped his jaw and eyes shut.

"Not a word," he hissed under his breath at the old woman as they walked out of the ministry behind Albus Dumbledore.

"I won't if you won't," she replied tauntingly, a wide and knowing smile gleaming on her face and in her eyes.

.o0O0o.

"Mister, what do you want with me?" the ten year old ebony haired female screamed fearfully.

Pettigrew grinned widely, more than happy with his catch. He could easily convince the ministry that he was this girls' godfather, and even get his name changed without a hassle with this child in tow. Now the only problem was to get her away from her biological father, who was mysteriously absent…

"Silence!" he snapped as he slapped her across the face. After years of being a rat, he was finally free to do what he wanted! Well, as soon as Sirius was back in Azkaban for the crimes he himself committed, anyways!

"Help! Somebody help!" the girl screamed, her every fiber screaming to get away from this large man. For some strange reason, the man's smile only grew, much to her fear. "Help!"

.o0O0o.

Two days had passed since he first became a snake, and Snape was now asking around the last place he wanted to be – Potter's bedroom. He saw a newspaper clipping of the murder victim, Sarabella, but none of the missing girl. He saw Potter's eyes widen, and the boy straightened up, his brow furrowed.

"_**Hello,**_" he greeted in Parseltongue. "_**Are you alright? How did you get in?**_"

"_**That is not of importance,**_" Snape replied. "_**I'm looking for my person. She's missing. Can you help me?**_"

"_**A familiar, you? Wow, is she a Parselmouth?**_" Harry asked shocked, and Snape took his head.

"_**No, not that I know of,**_" Snape said warily, recalling that he had to play the part of the innocent snake familiar that was lost in order to gain the teen's trust. "_**I know that her mother was killed, and that she is missing, but that is all I've heard from other animals. Has your predator seen anything? It won't eat me, will it?**_"

"_**No, she won't eat you,**_" Harry assured, picking Snape up. "_**I can't help but feel like I know you from somewhere…**_"

"_**I miss my person…**_" Snape whined, faking it one hundred and fifty percent. It disgusted him how thick he was laying his lies on. When would that boy learn? "_**Have you seen a rat? A big, juicy rat with a missing toe? It escaped me and I want to eat it. I'm hungry after looking for my human for so long…**_"

"_**No, sorry. Wait, yes, there is my friend's pet rat, but he's had it for years, there's no way you could know it,**_" Harry replied quickly. "_**Maybe another time, okay? Hey, I have to go now, my aunt's coming over, and I'm supposed to be on my best behavior.**_"

Snape glared at Harry's retreating frame. He now knew where Pettigrew was hiding – and where to strike next.

.o0O0o.

"Help!" she screamed, and a large black dog lunged at Pettigrew from behind. It bit his shoulder harshly before he threw it backwards and transformed into a rat. She screamed as she realized that her kidnapper was a freak. She stared in horror as her canine rescuer also transformed – only from large shaggy black dog to a human. She recognized him from the _Daily Prophet _– Sirius Black.

"Hello, little one," he greeted firmly. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could hide until my name is cleared, do you?"

"Um, if it's alright with you," she said warily as he thrust a knife into her shackles, freeing her. "You could be my pet…"

"I like that," he grinned. "It gets me to where I want to go, and to see who I want to see. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to become your pet dog."

The small girl sat in the basement for a while before Black returned as a dog with a snake upon his shoulders, a tabby cat trailing alongside, and a letter in his mouth. She stared in shock as all the cat transformed back into a human.

"Shh, it's alright," McGonagall soothed gently. "You're unharmed, you'll be alright. We've come to take you to Hogwarts."

"No, no, no! Daddy! I want my daddy!" the girl screamed, the foreign word flooding from her mouth. Her mother had only said that her father wanted her in his life only when he had no other option for the girl to survive. She didn't trust the hardened criminal without the father figure she so desperately longed for in her life.

"He's missing, but the Potions Master was asked to be your godfather," she assured, and the girl's eyes widened.

"So…he loves me? Daddy only didn't want me because he knew he couldn't take care of me?" she begged fearfully, and the old woman sighed. She was in for a _very _long night.

"Why don't we talk about this somewhere less intimidating?" she asked, holding an arm out to the child. The dog and snake looked at each other, circling the other angrily. "That's enough, you two," she said stamping her foot to get the message to Snape. "Save it for later."

Snape and Sirius cringed, both still extremely pissed off at the other. Still, they had no choice but to set their differences aside and work together for the girl's greater good. They still hated each other, but were working together for a common goal under a temporary truce. The truce ended when Lily and James' killer was put into Azkaban for good, his animagus form blocked off somehow.

**_"I'll get rid of you later,"_ **Severus hissed angrily.

* * *

Who's Kiru's dad? Truth be told, even I don't know yet...

Review?


	2. Pets vs Animagi

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/emphasis/Animal talk_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Harry boarded the Knight Bus angrily, his aunt Marge having pissed him off by insulting his late parents. The snake from before was back, and Harry had lied to Stan by saying that it was his pet, and Hedwig had gone flying into the night in disgust. There was a large black dog, apparently communicating with the snake, but the dog had fled when the bus showed up.

"_**So, where are you going? Did you find your owner?**_" Harry asked, and the snake shook its head. Snape hadn't really found what he was looking for, but had been too busy trying not to get killed by Black to see what else was nearby in that cellar, although it reeked to high heaven of Pettigrew and arousal.

"_**No, I have not. I'm staying with you until I do, or until you must go without me,**_" he said, and Harry's eyes widened.

"_**You know about Hogwarts? We're **_**bound**_** to find your person there!**_" he said gleefully just before the bus came to a screeching halt. Snape had coiled himself around Harry's arm, and was thankfully safe from the force of the momentum, albeit still nauseated.

"There you are," Cornelius Fudge greeted. "We were worried about you, Harry!"

"_**Fuck off, moron,**_" Snape spat angrily, baring his fangs.

"_**Hey, what's with the language all of a sudden? He's the minister of magic,**_" Harry objected, and Snape glared at him.

"_**He put the wrong person in jail. A teen's godfather was put in jail for a crime the illegal animagus commit,**_" Snape explained, not revealing everything.

"Sir, what's an animagus?" Harry asked, and the minister immediately became confused. "The snake said that you put an innocent man in prison for a crime that an illegal animagus commit, and the animagus escaped without a hitch."

"An animagus, dear Harry," Fudge explained hesitantly. "Is a witch or wizard that can transform into an animal. May I see your snake?"

"Okay," Harry said warily handing the snake over. Fudge looked the snake over for a bit, and smiled knowingly.

"I see," he said at last. "So that's how it is. Tell him that if he will supply the illegal animagus and the veritaserum, then we will do the rest."

Harry was confused, but translated anyways. "_**Wait, are you – are you an animagus?**_" Harry asked, and the snake nodded. "_**May I meet you in person**_?" Snape shook his head – he couldn't blow his cover with Potter yet. He needed to keep it as secret as possible for as long as possible.

Two weeks later Harry set off for Diagon Alley. The snake had told him that he had a way of getting the forms filled out and retrieved, and Harry trusted him, although he didn't know why. He guessed it was because the snake had said he knew Harry's mother, but feigned deafness on the subject after that. He did elaborate, however, as to why Sirius Black was Harry's godfather – James was Sirius' best friend.

"Harry, this is insane!" Ron cried out finally. "Can you believe this? Unbelievable!"

"Ron, could I borrow Scabbers for a bit?" Harry asked, suddenly recalling a discussion he'd had with the snake animagus. "The snake wanted to see Scabbers, to see if Scabbers was an animagus. He thinks he knows Scabbers, or possibly."

"No," Ron said possessively, and the trio finished shopping.

"Hermione," Harry said as they got back to the Leaky Cauldron, "If I find one bite mark on the black snake in my room, or on Hedwig, that cat will have to go."

"He won't, will you, Crookshanks?" Hermione crooned, and the cat purred happily. Snape glared at the cat as the trio walked in, and slithered up to it as the cat leapt down.

"_**Peace, feline,**_" he began, and the cat sniffed him. "_**I'm an animagus. I'm sure you've met a large black furry … not exactly associate of mine, but we are working together to catch the same criminal for killing our best friends.**_"

"_I know. The black dog told me, Sirius I think his name was. How can I help? What does the criminal look like?" _Crookshanks asked, and Snape grinned.

"_**Meet me once we get to school. You'll know where to find me by my smell, and possibly a shed skin or two,**_" he replied vaguely, knowing Harry was listening.

The rest of the summer passed uneventfully, and Harry was often puzzled as to the whereabouts of his new snake friend, albeit it was a loose version of the term. He wanted to know the man's wizard form, but alas, it had gone missing soon after the meeting with Crookshanks.

"I'm telling you Harry, your snake and owl and Hermione's cat are trying to kill Scabbers!" Ron screamed.

"No," Harry said stubbornly. "Capture him. I heard the snake talk about it one night – something about criminal and Azkaban. From what I heard, Black was framed for a crime that an illegal animagus commit."

"Whatever," Ron scoffed. "I'm starting to wonder if Snape was that weird black snake. I mean, he is real snake-like, and his hair is black and all…"

In the Hogwarts staff room, Snape sneezed. He grimaced, the old Japanese urban myth coming into play of someone talking about you behind your back and sneezing as they did so. He began plotting his next moves – term started in less than a week, and there was still no sign of Black or the child, or so McGonagall reported. Snape knew that she had gotten the child to safety, away from Pettigrew. Now all he needed was to give the child the Ocarina and to let the girl know that it would react with her surroundings if she played the right melodies.

"Something wrong, Severus? You're being awfully quiet back there," Professor Sprout smiled warmly, and he looked in another direction to avert their gazes. He couldn't bring himself to tell them that the missing child was his – it would show bad parenting on his part, and he didn't even know what the girl looked like except that she had his hair.

"Is this about Sarabella?" one of the others teased, and Snape snapped.

"You leave her _out _of this!" he yelled as he gave the wizard a bone-chilling glare and stormed out of the staff room to go to his office.

He'd lost Lily to James, and now he'd lost Sarabella, both at Pettigrew's hands. He'd had more than enough of that fat gaki getting in his way and ruining his life. He transformed into a snake, and slithered into the covers to let his eyes converge with tears he'd been holding back for more than a month now.

Elsewhere in the castle, the small child was sleeping under the watchful eye of Nymphadora Tonks. The auror had responded to the call from Dumbledore, and had been ecstatic at having a hand in protecting her until term started. She vaguely recognized a box near the girl's nightstand, but had no idea what was in it – a spell was put on it so that only the first-year could open it.

Tonks grinned in delight. As soon as the child was at Kings' Cross and safely on the Hogwarts Express in the same car as Professor Snape, then she could relax from this whole issue. Her plan: apparate to the station, and drop the child off at the entryway of the train with strict instructions for her to find a black-clad adult wizard in a certain box car. The child whimpered in her sleep, and Tonks gently began cradling the small girl, singing softly.

"Nobody's going to hurt you here," Tonks murmured gently. She couldn't have been more wrong.

* * *

Still can't figure out who her dad is? I finally figured out who I wanted it to be. It's not who I thought.

Review?


	3. Reunions and Recognitions

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/emphasis_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The ride on the train for Kiru was extremely long, and very terrifying. She couldn't sleep a wink, and even then, the three others in her compartment were looking at her weirdly. One had flaming red hair, a female, one had a round face and was terrified and always losing his toad, and the third was a blonde who was reading a newspaper upside down. The fourth member of the compartment was a mystery, but the round-faced boy was terrified of the black-clad adult.

"Thanks," she said quietly, and the trio looked at her like she was crazy. "For letting me stay here. I'm Kiru."

"Ginny Weasley," the redhead female introduced. "I'm in Gryffindor, it's my second year."

"Neville Longbottom," the round faced one introduced. "Oi, get back here, Trevor!"

"The spell you need is 'Accio', Neville," the blonde said. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood, a third year Ravenclaw. Neville's in Gryffindor and his third year, as well. Your father really does love you, by the way. He just left your mother alone to protect her from you-know-who."

"Huh?" Kiru said, and the train jerked to a halt. "We're there already?"

"No," Ginny said frowning, and the train suddenly became very cold. Kiru felt like she wouldn't be happy again, which wasn't a new feeling for her. it had often accompanied her mother's anger issues.

A large hooded figure emerged in the doorway, and began feeding on Kiru. She moaned in pain, her time in Wormtail's clutches almost resurfacing, but her mother's angry screaming at her first potion beat him to the chase. She tried begging, pleading for her mother to stop in perfect Japanese as her mother had drilled into her head, but to no avail.

Suddenly, the black-clad wizard was upright and alert, pointing his wand at the large cloaked figure, just as Kiru's world went black. She could vaguely make out what the others were saying, and was vaguely aware that the thing was gone, whatever it was. She felt a sensation in her ribs that was all too familiar.

"Kiru," an adult male said, jabbing her in the ribs with his foot.

"Daddy?" she whispered groggily, wanting it to be him, for him to finally come rescue her from her mother's evil clutches. That woman was truly evil, and her father was the only one who could free her, she knew.

"Kiru, get up," the male repeated, putting his hands underneath her arms to lift her up. "Longbottom, make sure she eats this – _all _of it. I don't want to lose my job just because you idiots can't keep a dementor from attacking you. If you need me, I'll be going to fetch one of the prefects."

Kiru heard the door slide open twice, opening her eyes just in time to see the black figure retreating. Her vision was blurry, and she immediately began sobbing relentlessly in despair.

"Hey, it's okay, it's not your fault," Ginny soothed, rubbing Kiru's back. "I've never seen Professor Snape so pissed off like that. Do you know him?"

"Snape?" Kiru asked, confused. She knew her mother always called her a 'useless Snape', but she had no idea what it meant.

"Yeah, our Potions teacher," Neville shuddered. "I swear, if that dementor wasn't evil, then Snape comes pretty close in my book."

"What happened?" Kiru asked as Neville handed her the chocolate. "What the hell is this stuff? It's all sweet – and icky!"

"You've never had chocolate? You don't like it? Seriously?" Ginny asked in awe, Kiru shook her head, nodded, and shrugged.

"Well, I think it was nice what Professor Snape did," Luna spoke. "Besides that, I think that he had a different motive, but I'm not entirely sure. The nargles get really confused around him."

"Huh? Nargles?" Kiru asked between bites, and Luna nodded. Kiru shrugged it off as the chocolate effecting her system, and finished off the bar quickly to keep from having to eat. She lay her head on the window, and returned to the dark waters of slumber.

"She ate it all, Professor," she heard Ginny report, and felt a firm hand on her forehead.

"Good," she heard the male say. "That bitch Sarabella. I swear, one day she's going to regret this."

"You know how Black got out?" Ginny, Neville, and Luna asked in unison.

"I've got a good idea, and I'm fairly sure young Kiru knows every last detail," he said darkly, leaving no room for arguments. "What the hell are you three doing in this car anyways?"

"Well, sir, all the others were full, and well, nobody else would let us in…" Neville finished lamely.

"I stuck with Kiru," Ginny said tripping backwards and landing on top of Neville. "Sorry, Neville."

"I didn't want my things stolen," Luna said mystically, and went back to reading. "If you'd like, I can leave."

"I never thought I'd say this, but don't you dare leave this car. I'm not risking any of you getting the dementor's kiss."

"Oh, then you'd lose your job, right?" Neville asked, and Kiru could feel the tension in the adult by his palm against her forehead.

"In your wildest dreams, Longbottom," the adult spat, and yanked open the door. "Time to get changed. Longbottom, out. Go get changed with Potter or Weasley."

"Yes, sir," the boy squeaked before racing off and the wizard stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

"Should we change her clothes for her?" Ginny asked, and Kiru heard the slight whish of cloth, indicating that Luna had shrugged.

"No, I got it," Kiru moaned wearily, but ended up having to have the two help her anyways from exhaustion. Just as she finished, there was a loud crack outside the door, and Kiru jumped, dodging onto the floor.

"It's alright," Luna soothed. "Professor Snape apparated. We must be getting close."

"Look, there it is," Ginny grinned widely as Neville knocked. "Come on in, Neville."

"Just thought you ought to know – oh, who's this?" a female in green robes asked, and Ginny frowned.

"Kiru," Ginny replied. "Leave her alone, she just got attacked by a dementor."

"A first year attacked by a dementor? I'd watch where you lie, Weasley, because I can make your life hell," the girl spat, and Kiru began hissing away angrily in Parseltongue.

"_**Oh, I'd watch what I was saying if I were you, because it's me that can make your life a living hell. Snakes come and find me, and I can fill your bed with them. Mark my words, if I'm in Slytherin, I'll talk to our leader and make sure you get your badge revoked for that. Because, technically, that can be considered sexual harassment,**_" Kiru ranted angrily, and the four stared at her.

"You stay out of Slytherin, FREAK!" the girl yelled before slapping Kiru harshly. Kiru instantly lashed out right back with a boa constrictor – the same one that Harry had let loose from the zoo, ironically enough.

"_**Hey, Orochikage, can you scare the shit-bricks out of her for me? I want her shitting bricks in her robes,**_" she grinned as the girl left. "Can you guys promise me you won't tell a word of this to anyone? I'll get expelled, and this is the only home I've got – literally."

"Okay, sure, whatever," the three agreed as the train whistled loudly and the large boa slithered off out of sight.

"Firs' years! Firs' years, this way!" she heard a large voice yell, and Kiru gaped at Hagrid and his massive bulk. Kiru was skittish, and would only go in a boat filled with only girls, much to three of the other girls' eagerness.

She recognized McGonagall easily, and vice versa. They both kept their eyes on the other, even as McGonagall lectured about the four houses. Kiru was skittish, wondering if her godfather was truly here or if it was just a lie that the old woman had made up to get her to come.

"Why do I get the feeling this will end badly?" she whined to the girl next to her, who looked at her like she was crazy. It seemed like all the other students did that, and it wasn't just her – even Luna, Neville, and Ginny had looked at her like she was a freak, though they daren't voice their opinions with a teacher present.

Snape watched and scanned the crowd, seeing his animagus form's former "master" sit down at the Gryffindor table. Crookshanks had found him and was twisting around his ankles. He wrote something down on a piece of paper, and slipped it to the orange tabby. _Meet me in the office in the dungeons later with Snuffles._ The cat let out a low growl before leaving.

As he ignored most of the sorting, he almost yawned in exhaustion. The search had come up fruitless, and he kept feeling like something vital was missing in this child's story, a piece that he felt he should have placed earlier. Especially since the missing child had been in his compartment on the train. Longbottom had called the girl Kiru, and the name sounded almost familiar to him. He busied himself with trying to figure out the puzzle, since unsolved puzzled bothered him greatly.

"Snape, Kiru!" Minerva called out, and the Great Hall was instantly silent, even Snape was interested now, his drowsiness gone as he straightened up. Could it be – his long-lost daughter through Sarabella was the small undernourished eleven year old on the train?

A small girl stepped forward lightly, her ebony hair falling down her back, almost never cut, but clean as a whistle. _Thank goodness she didn't get my oily hair_, Snape mused, his eyes clouded over with worry and pride, but his face still an emotionless mask. Several moments passed, before she outright screamed, throwing the hat down, backing away fearfully, tears suddenly flowing down her face.

Snape surged forward, launching himself over the table with his arm to get to his little one, almost causing a large mess in the process. He nimbly caught her as she fell back upon too-big school robes, his hands firm, yet gentle. He didn't want to scare her, but he didn't want to lose her, either. He'd already lost two loved ones – he wasn't going to lose the one that he fathered, not if he could help it.

"The Ocarina is in the box I put with your things. It gives you gifts if you play the right songs. Now, what did the hat do?" he asked quietly and she writhed to face him.

They both gasped, calculating black eyes meeting terrified onyx. She analyzed him, recognizing his black hair, their slight frame, and even the set of their cheeks and the tone of their skins. It all matched. She was his, alright, there was no doubting it now that she was older. As an infant, he had no way of knowing and thought that Sarabella had been lying to try to get something out of him, like she did on occasion when she was bored or needing money for no real reason. But now, he regretted not staying with her to protect her. Using a small amount of legimens, he knew she recognized him from the train.

"Daddy," she gasped, throwing herself onto him. He flinched momentarily, but put his arms around her.

"Meet me in my office later," he murmured gently. "I think it's time we sorted you."

"No!" she panicked as he tried to lead her back to the hat. "No! No! Don't make me go back!"

"Back where?" Snape asked, crouching down to her level.

"The old woman by the old hat," she whispered, and Snape nodded. "She rescued me from Wormtail, the hat – the hat – what did it do?"

"It was trying to sort you," Snape said gently. "See, watch." Snape stretched out his hand, summoned the hat, and plopped it on his head.

**Well, well, if it isn't Severus Snape. Did you get Lily like you wanted? Or did you marry Sarabella? I was just on your child.**

_I know. She's scared of you. Sarabella – she's dead. I was going to marry her this past summer, but Pettigrew killed her and kidnapped Kiru. Sarabella's and my daughter, I mean. Lily got useless Potter. I'm sure you recall the Gaki Potter from two years ago._

**Ah, yes, the one I almost put in Slytherin.**

_I'm glad you didn't. I'd have tried to strangle him within the first week._

**You always were one to bear grudges, even against your father. **

_What did you see in her mind that caused her to lash out like that?_

**Now, that was most curious. The girl is terrified of a man that is a rat animagus. He's missing his index finger. He apparently tried to rape her, but a large black dog intervened before he could.**

_I see. Thank you. As for the dog – I'll have to go talk to him personally later. I've got an idea as to who it is._

**No problem. Good luck leading the Slytherin House this year – something tells me you'll need it.**

"No harm, no foul," Snape said gently as the hat finished its conversation with him. "All it does is look through your memories to sort you."

"What about you?" Kiru asked, and Snape blinked.

"I was sorted when I was your age," he replied as he plopped the hat on her. "Relax – it helps the hat to make idle conversation. If you do that he won't have to dig into your memories to sort you."

**Well, well, the Snape girl returns. I apologize for scaring you like that, little one. I didn't realize there were such dark memories in your past.**

_Why can't you sort me without memories_?

**Ah, but I can. All you have to do is tell me about yourself. Hmm… you're shy, so that means you can go in Hufflepuff. You are brave and attempted to protect your mother, so you're eligible for Gryffindor. You're smart, and are eligible for Ravenclaw. However, you are also cunning, and are eligible for Slytherin. **

_What house were my parents in?_

**Your mother was one of the hardest people I ever had to sort. I spent more than ten minutes on that little hatstaller. You have all of the same qualities that she did, and that is why I'm having a hard time sorting you as well. Would you answer a few questions for me to help speed things along?**

_I guess, but will I have to leave my dad's side? I just met him, but I already feel safe with him…_

**Ah, a broken household. Tell me, what happened to cause this?**

_I don't know. Mom never talked about dad, except that he wouldn't see me, not even when she begged him to take me when I was an infant so she could go to the hospital. She said he took something of mine._

**He likely did so to protect it for you for a later date should it need powerful protecting. Ah, but your mother was very cunning. I can tell by your voice, and the thought, her eyes in the memory – she was lying. She was obliviated – someone tampered with her memories. Tell me more about that night.**

_Well, that was all she said. Whenever I made my own potion for the first time – a really simple one, just for fun – she screamed at me and locked her cauldron away, telling me if I ever did that again without permission that she'd ground me for a year. She said she didn't want me turning into my father. It was the first thing I ever learned about dad… I wanted to know more, but she … she…_

**Hit you?**

_Worse. She said if I ever asked about dad again she'd hand me over to the Dark Lord and let him brand me with the Dark Mark, even at age five. I was scared, so I stopped. I saw the Dark Lord only once, and I swore to never obey him, but to tear his organization down from the inside using Parseltongue. That one was when I was seven._

**Hm… Very cunning, indeed. Yes, I recall sorting your father. He was one of the easiest people to sort. I think I'll tell you something about his childhood, but this is just between you and me, understand?**

_Yes, I promise! Anything to get more information about father!_

**His father was a drunkard. Your father always swore that he would trick his father by switching the alcohol out with water or a potion that would remove an addiction. That one was one of the more funny memories to watch, by far!**

_Dad was hurt by his dad? Just like mom hurt me?_

**Well, not necessarily. You want to see something cool?**

_Wait, how long have I been on you?_

**Child, it doesn't matter. I already knew what house you would be in as soon as you threw me off of you and had Severus put me on his head for proof that I was harmless. **

_So, what's so cool?_

**Hn, an interesting child. Look, do you see what I'm projecting into your mind?**

_Yes. Who is that? He's dressed so – so - weird!_

**Your father when he was your age. I'm sure he'd be better at explaining it than I.**

_But what if father won't like me because of what house I'll be sorted into?_

**Relax, you're in your father's house through and through. You'll make him proud someday, I know it. Just make sure you don't follow in your mother's footsteps. I recommend getting a hold on that temper, it always was her Achilles heel.**

_Huh? Oh, oh right. Heeheehee…_

**Oh dear. Oh dear, dear. Mischevous.**

_Damn right I am. Mum made me swear to not get caught making peace._

**Mischevous. **

"Oh, dear," McGonagall whispered. "Not another one. Please don't…anywhere but…"

"**SLYTHERIN!**" The hat yelled out, and the Slytherin table burst into loud applause, and Severus pulled his little girl into a tight hug. He nudged her forward, and she flinched, looking up at him fearfully.

_Hat?_

**Yes? You're afraid of your own house? Don't worry, your father is the head of Slytherin House, so he'll be able to keep a close eye on you. The Slytherin dormitories are right next to his office should you need him. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to make time for his little girl.**

"Thanks, hat," Kiru said as she put it back on the stool. She looked back at her father, pointing at the green one, and he nodded. She flitted over, hesitantly stopping as the others hastily made room for their new house member. She noticed that all the teachers were clapping more than happily, and even her black-clad father was clapping with a smirk on his face – something the others were scared of.

"Bug off," one of the boys jeered, and Kiru looked at him sadly. She saw a blonde move shiftily, and one of the larger boys pushed the small jeering boy down off the bench.

"Sorry about the idiot," the blonde said. "He hasn't quite learned to respect his elders yet. I'm Draco Malfoy, third year. Welcome to Slytherin. Here, have a seat," he said motioning to a seat next to a large boy.

"You don't mind?" Kiru asked, terrified, and Malfoy smiled wider.

"Your father is my favorite teacher," Draco countered. "I see every reason to make friends with you. Besides, it's obvious that you belong here. This is Crabbe, and Goyle. Here, sit by me. I recommend that it's not next to Crabbe – not unless you want to lose a hand during dinner."

"If you're quite done brown-nosing Malfoy!" McGonagall snapped angrily, and Kiru's eyes snapped to the floor immediately as she hastily sat down, terrified of the old woman's wrath. She'd seen what the Transfiguration teacher could do in the basement, and it was terrifying.

"Sorry, Professor!" Malfoy called out, and her fear deepened. Experience had taught her to stay invisible.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"No," he retorted just as quietly as the hat was placed on another first year. "It was my pleasure. I'm glad you're here. I'm sick of having just Potter and Granger – they're Gryffindor brats in my year, I'll show you them later – being a teacher's favorite."

"So, what's it like? Where's dad's office?" Kiru asked as the hat called out another house and the Hufflepuffs burst into applause.

"Dungeons," Malfoy answered, and was shocked when Kiru shuddered. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like dungeons," Kiru whined. "I was locked in one as a kid by my mom. She used to be proud of me, until I made my first potion on accident when I was going to make soup. After that she hated me – I guess I reminded her too much of dad."

"Oh, they separated to keep each other safe," Malfoy realized. "No problem. Hey, have you heard about Sirius Black?"

"Yeah," she said, turning to face him. "But it's Pettigrew I'm worried about. Mom said that it was Pettigrew that sold out the Potters, not Black. I think he was framed by Pettigrew and that Pettigrew's an illegal animagus."

"Huh, that's an interesting theory," Malfoy said, "Impressive. I'm surprised you're not in Ravenclaw."

"The hat said it wanted to put me in all the houses, just like my mom," Kiru explained.

"So that's why you took twenty minutes to sort! Well, that and you freaked out," Malfoy explained.

"Twenty minutes!" Kiru shrieked as the Gryffindors burst into applause.

"Relax, it's not unheard of," Malfoy soothed. "We call them 'Hatstallers'. You probably got all that from your mom. What was the deciding factor?"

"I threw him on the ground and got dad to put it on before I would put it back on," she said like it was obvious.

"Yeah, that _is _cunning, and very cautious, too," Malfoy conceded. "No wonder. The hat probably recognized Professor Snape as your dad and put you in his house to protect you."

"Yeah…" Kiru said sadly and lay her arms on the table and her head on her arms. She felt like crying and laughing at the same time. Her father was here, he cared about her, he wanted her, and best of all, he was Potions Master! But why had he left her mom?

"First years, follow me!" the female Slytherin snapped. "Oh, it's _you_. What do you want now, freak? Just cause your daddy's head of the house, doesn't mean you can break the rules. If anything, it means you have to be extra strict and set the example. Now, why don't you lead the way?"

"It's her first time here, leave her alone!" Malfoy snapped, more than angry at the girl. "What did she do to you anyways? If you ask me, I'd say she's harmless!"

"Harmless, my ass, Malfoy," the girl snapped. "That bitch is a Parselmouth!"

"That's not my fault! My mom was, too!" Kiru objected, and the prefect glared, giving a fake smile.

"Tell me, do you want me to get you expelled for terroristic threatening? One wrong word, and I will do anything in my power to get you expelled," she sneered in Kiru's ear. Kiru finally snapped, pushing her. "You should do the world a favor and drop dead!"

"Fine! Since everyone here but Draco and my dad seem to think I should die, maybe I _will_ just go join Moaning Myrtle!" she screamed as she raced towards the bathrooms. She'd heard the stories about Moaning Myrtle from Ginny on the train, and knew that Myrtle was probably the best option right now. That, and it was the last place they'd look for her since Slytherins were known to be cunning enough to hide. However, by hiding where she said, she was throwing them off, since they'd be looking everywhere except Myrtle's bathroom.

As soon as she got there, she ran straight to the final stall, locked herself in, and began bawling her eyes out profusely. Nobody would ever find her here if she drowned herself, right? Would her father even care? Would Ginny, Neville, or Luna ever talk to her again since she was in Slytherin? Would Draco ever wonder where she went? A number of other questions were plaguing Kiru at this point, all of which involving why everyone hated her when her mother was so loved at Hogwarts. After a few hours, the toilet water bubbled up, and out came a ghost of a fifth year girl.

"Oh, what do you want?" the girl spat.

"I just want to fit in!" Kiru sobbed, and the girl's demeanor changed dramatically.

"Ooh, is it a boy or girl that's teasing you?" Myrtle crooned.

"Both! Everybody but Draco and my dad hate me!" Kiru sobbed, and she could feel the ghost's demeanor changing from hard and uncaring to soft and understanding.

"I died here, you know," the ghost said, "In this very stall. A giant snake killed me when I looked at its eyes. Harry Potter killed the snake last year. The lair was right in that sink – but only a Parselmouth can get to it."

"How ironic – my mom's a descendant of Slytherin," Kiru sniffed. Suddenly, a snake slithered into the bathroom, long and black – a black Mamba.

"Oh, a snake magnet," Myrtle jeered. "No wonder everyone hates you. Oh, but that's a much bigger excuse than mine. Everyone hated me because of my glasses. That was all. The teachers didn't even bother to come looking for me until it was too late and one of the other girls found me the next day. They didn't even hold a funeral in the castle, they just held one for my parents and the Professors during the summer." Kiru picked up the snake as Myrtle let out a loud wail and threw herself into the toilet with a large amount of regurgitation of water.

"_**I don't understand why everyone hates me. I try to be nice, I try to make friends, and I end up making only one! Ginny, Neville, and Luna probably hate me because they hate my dad, and I'm a Slytherin descendant, and that prefect girl in our house was threatening to expel me! I wish you could stay as my familiar – that would scare her into leaving me alone. All I did was stick up for Ginny when the girl threatened to get her expelled for not doing her homework one time, and then the girl hit me! So then when I tell her off – accidentally in Parseltongue – she thinks I'm a freak and tells me that if I was smart I'd not land in Slytherin! I hate this place already! I want out – this place just makes me feel like I should drop dead, like that would be doing the world a favor! The only ones I'd have to write a goodbye note for would be for dad and Draco, and even then, I just barely met them during the sorting! They probably wouldn't even care if I was dead or alive!"**_ Kiru sobbed to the snake, relishing the feel of its jaw on her cheek. It slithered out, and she almost followed it, until she saw what was happening. She almost screamed at what she saw: The snake was transforming.

* * *

Yes, Snape's a dad. One night fling and all that when he was trying to get over Lily - well, that and an excuse you'll see in a few chapters or in the next story.


	4. The Bonding

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/emphasis_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

He finally couldn't take it any longer, and decided to transform back into a human to protect his child from harm, no matter how simple the problem was. She'd been in here for who knew how long, and had a number of possible murder or suicide weapons at her disposal.

"Kiru," Snape said gently, pulling her into a hug. "You should have told me, sweetheart. I promise, she _will _get detention for this, and I'll also be talking to the headmaster about this, and her parents. Don't worry, I'm here. I'm here. Daddy's got you. Daddy loves you, it's okay, sweetheart. Shh, it's alright."

"Dad," Kiru sobbed, burying her face into his chest. "Dad, I'm so sorry….I'm such a monster…I shouldn't be here…"

"Don't you ever let anyone tell you that," Snape snapped. "It's not true. Potter's a Parselmouth, and so is the Dark Lord. Two very opposite wizards – it's what you do with your gifts that count. You belong here just as much as I do. Let me tell you something," he said, looking around. "Myrtle, I would prefer no eavesdropping on this part, if you would please."

"Yes, sir," she said before floating back a ways.

"I got picked on, too," Snape whispered, and Kiru moved back to look him in the eyes. "Really, I did. James Potter and Sirius Black were relentless. One prank of theirs almost killed me, till James intervened. Kiru, I know you're upset, but if you ever need to talk, just let me know. Here – use the coin. I'll come pull you out of class as soon as I can, I promise. I love you, Kiru. I always have, and I always will."

"But- then why'd you leave mom?" Kiru asked confused as Severus handed her the Ocarina.

"I didn't want either of you getting hurt. I was acting as a spy at the time, and I knew that if word got out that I had a family and was a spy – well, they'd go after you first," Snape said gently. "Both sides would. That Ocarina was from your mother's household – I took it the night she tried to force me to take you in. I took it and hid it so that you could have it – I knew that the Dark Lord would want it since only a descendant of Slytherin may use it."

"So, it was to protect us?" she asked, and he nodded as she tooted a shaky and shrill note out. "But why leave me there? Why not come get me when mom was becoming abusive?"

"I couldn't – she put the house under a Fidelius charm, and I had no way of getting in," Snape said gently wiping her tears with his thumbs. "Kiru, I know I'm not used to being a parent, and I was extremely negligent on my duties as a father to you, but I'm going to change that, starting today on the train. I suspected, but I wasn't sure until Minerva – Professor McGonagall to you – called out your name."

"Daddy," Kiru sobbed, clinging tightly. "Will I have to go back to face her?"

"Hm? Ah, the prefect? No, I'll handle her. I'll look into getting you a familiar you can keep with you at all times. Where's Moaning Myrtle?" the Potions Master suddenly realized from the lack of moaning.

"I got on her good side," Kiru grinned sheepishly. "She caught me crying and, we started swapping stories of why we were crying. Did you know she died from the giant snake in that sink?"

"The Basalisk? Yes, I've heard of it – the one Potter killed last year," Snape said inspecting the snake on the tap.

"I wonder how I get it to _**open**_," Kiru said softly, and the sinks began shifting. "What'd I do?"

"I do believe," Snape smiled broadly. "That you found the Chamber of Secrets. Try to close it, before someone else comes."

"Right, uh…_**close**_," Kiru said, and the sinks shifted back to their original position. "Wow…"

"Severus!" McGonagall raced in, panting heavily. "Oh, thank goodness you found her… Malfoy was panicking like there was no tomorrow. Severus, you might want to have a word with the boy – he was cussing at a prefect. And – is that Sarabella's Ocarina?"

"Yes, and with every good reason," Snape retorted. "She called my daughter a freak on the train, even though she already knew Kiru was unstable from the dementor attack. If it were up to me, I'd be expelling her right now. Sadly, I cannot do that without the headmaster."

"You can expel someone?" Kiru asked quietly.

"Under extreme circumstances, yes," he told her. "But that is only for the Headmaster and the head of their house to decide."

"Daddy, I'm scared! I don't want to go near her! She'll hurt me, I know it!" Kiru whined, and Snape bent down once more to hold her tightly.

"Not on my watch, she won't," Snape said firmly. "And if she does, I'll be ready for her. Trust me – I've got an idea. It's risky – but it might just work."

"Severus, Minerva," Professor Dumbledore greeted as he walked in. "Myrtle was kind enough to inform me of what has happened, Miss Snape. Severus, you understand the severity of the situation – what was she saying in Parseltongue that Myrtle didn't catch?"

"Something that would make me look like sunshine and flowers," Snape replied with a slight shuddering, masking it with his robes. "And not in the threatening way – simply put, the girl made the dementor feel like nothing compared to now."

"I believe that she is in a little need of some hot chocolate," the old man grinned. "I find that it soothes my nerves and helps perk me up."

"I don't like chocolate," Kiru objected, and Snape grinned.

"Like father like daughter," Dumbledore grinned, his eyes twinkling. "Perhaps Potions making, then?"

"Can we?" Kiru asked, looking up at her father, her eyes pleading desperately.

"Of course we can, I'm the potions master, I'm in charge of potions brewing here," he grinned widely, holding her shoulders tightly and protectively. "I was thinking of a little Veritaserum…"

"Severus, that's illegal!" McGonagall objected.

"Whoever said I'd use it on a student?" Snape grinned. "No, I was thinking of Wormtail to put him in jail, ne, Kiru-chan?"

"Daddy," she murmured, her head suddenly light and her legs wobbly. She fell back, and he caught her with ease. "Daddy…"

"Shh, just rest," the once-heartless teacher said softly as he stroked her hair. "Headmaster, she shouldn't go unpunished – from what I saw in legimency, Kiru did nothing wrong. If you don't believe me, see for yourself."

"Legimens," Dumbledore murmured, and he watched the memories of the train from the small girl. He opened his eyes and sighed. "Your prefect could very well be sent to Azkaban for what she's done…"

"Hm?" Snape murmured, furrowing his brow.

"She attempted a nonverbal Imperius Curse, but it backfired onto a toad," Dumbledore said quietly, and the two teachers stood in shock.

"That little-!" Snape began, but Kiru's stirring brought him back down, still fuming. "Can we at least try it?"

"It's well worth it," McGonagall said. "It's not the first time, from what I've heard from my lions. She attempted it on a number of them, including Longbottom, the four Weasleys, and even Granger during last school year."

"Headmaster, I think we should give her a proper trial by the Ministry. If it's alright with you, I'd like to get Kiru a snake for a familiar – she _is _a Parselmouth, and can use the snake to vent out her frustrations as she needs to," Snape said calmly, and the old man nodded.

"Very well. And Severus – let Draco know. He's very worried about her."

.o0O0o.

"Sir!" Malfoy said startled as Snape walked into the dungeons common room. "Is she alright? Was she hurt? What happened after she ran off?"

The entire house had heard what had happened, and even how the girl had done something to their own head of house's daughter. Oh, the prefect knew it too. Snape jerked his head to a group of fifth year girls who nodded and raced into the dormitories. The other students backed off, the first years not understanding why the older ones were terrified, but obeyed their elders nonetheless and backed off.

"She'll be alright, Draco," Snape said firmly. "She just needs to rest, and have nobody insulting her anytime soon. Not so soon after that dementor attack on the train and the emotional breakdown I just had to calm her down from. It took me a full half hour of listening to her sobbing and finally forcing a relaxant down her throat."

"Sir, would you like me to watch over her? I could get my old house elf to do it!" Malfoy said quickly, and Snape looked at him. "Sir? You remember Dobby, right?"

"Yes, I recall," Snape said, leering. "But Potter freed him."

"I can pay him for it, he'd probably be happy to as long as I don't act the way father did," he volunteered, and Kiru stirred once more in her sleep. "Sir, please, I just want to help in any way I can."

"Actually, Draco, there is a way you can help," Snape grinned evilly. "Could you contact Lucius? I'm sure he'd be _very _interested in what's happened tonight, wouldn't you agree, Miss Arachne?"

"Professor, I did nothing to that girl," the prefect said, and Snape glared at her. "I swear it's the truth, Professor."

"We'll see who is telling the truth and who is lying tomorrow – or rather, later today, due to the ungodly hour that you've forced me to stay up until to find my daughter hiding in a bathroom stall. _From you and your big mouth_, need I add. One more outburst out of you, and I will have no problem expelling you. You knew she was attacked by a dementor, and you attacked her anyways. If I see you approach her one more time and it's not to help her with homework at her request, or with my permission, you _will _be expelled. I do not tolerate death threats in this house – that goes for _all _of you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Professor," they chorused, and Malfoy hesitantly padded closer.

"Sir, how quickly do you want me to write him?"

"As soon as time allows it. Hell, write it during History class or lunch for all I care," Snape said with a jerk of his head. "In the meantime, who – aside from Miss Arachne – would care to help get Kiru into bed?"

"I will," Millicent Bullstrode said as she stepped forward. Pansy Parkinson also stepped forward, and as did two more Slytherin girls from the older years.

"Thank you," Snape said as he looked at the dying fire. "Allright, bed, all of you. We still have classes in the morning."

"Yes, sir," they chorused and Snape headed into his office.

"Sorry, Crookshanks, Snuffles," Snape said yawning. "Trouble with a rogue prefect. I swear that girl is going to drive me insane. Thank Kami that some of the other girls were willing to help with Kiru."

Draco sat down at his bed, quickly writing a letter to Lucius Malfoy.

_Father, _

_Unexpected problems have come up. Yes, I know, it's too soon, but one of the girl prefects, our own Slytherin prefect, attacked one of the first year girls, who happens to be a friend of mine. The first year was almost killed, and was even considering suicide, even though she just got here. _

_She was attacked by a dementor on the train, and the prefect used this as an opportunity to attack with the Imperius Curse. It backlashed and landed on Longbottom's toad thank goodness – the first time that idiot ever came in handy – and was harmless to her. Later, after the sorting and feast, the prefect outright told the first year girl that she wasn't welcome, and should – and I quote – "do the world a favor and drop dead". _

_Also, the prefect has used the confundus charm, and the Imperius curse before, just not on Slytherins. Father, I worry for the first and second year girls' safety. If there is a way to get her expelled, could you please help me and tell me what to do? Thank you! _

_Love, Draco _

He lay the paper under his pillow so it wouldn't get stolen, Malfoy let himself drift off to sleep with thoughts of Kiru's smile in his mind. Ginny, Luna, and Neville were all thinking along the same lines as Malfoy when they went to bed, but they worried all night about their new friend's safety.

The next morning, Kiru awoke late, and panicked. She raced downstairs to the common room, and dashed out to try to find the Great Hall. She tripped, fell, and came face-to-feet with the prefect girl from the night before.

"Well, if it isn't daddy's girl. Mark my words, one day you'll regret dragging him into our little discussions," she jeered, as she pulled the girl up in front of Snape and walked off. Malfoy raced up, and roundhouse tackled her.

"You're alright! Oh, thank heavens! I was so worried!" he breathed relieved, and Kiru stared in confusion. "No, strike that, _we _were so worried! More than half the house stayed up last night to see if Professor Snape found you! Oh, you should have seen the look on his face when he saw her – I swear it looked like he would have lunged forward and tortured her to death muggle-style if it weren't for the fact that you were in his arms asleep."

"Draco, am I ugly?" Kiru asked suddenly and barely audible, and Malfoy stared at her in shock.

"No! Whoever said that was outright lying! You're the most beautiful Slytherin I've found yet," he said honestly. "Hey, I'm headed up to the owlrey to see if they can get this letter off to my father. I think I left something behind. Would you like to come with me?"

She nodded and they went upstairs in silence.

"Draco?" she asked as they got to the owlrey. "Will you kiss me?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, then gently brought her lips to his. He could feel the shock behind hers, and she could feel the sincerity behind his. He pulled away, a soft smile on his lips.

"Maybe that will prove those others wrong that think Parselmouths can't find love," he grinned. "And – could we not tell your father? I don't want to get in trouble."

"That's not it," she said hesitantly. "My mother said that nobody would ever kiss me except for my father, and that if it did happen, that I would finally be free of her curse."

"Curse?" he asked confused.

"Draco," she whispered as she hugged him. "I'm scared. I don't want to be alone, the prefects scare me…"

"Shh, don't be. Professor Snape loves you very much and would do anything to protect you. Heck, he went into a girls' bathroom for you, and he _never_ does that. That should say something about how much you mean to him as his little girl," Malfoy said gently as he tied the letter to his dad onto his owl and sent it off.

"Breakfast?" she asked, and they raced down to breakfast. When they reached there, the Slytherin house was ecstatic, even the ones who had stayed up late the night before. The entire house had sleep deprivation, and Snape was probably the proudest head of house in that moment.

Even the seventh years and those goody-goody students in the Slytherins were ecstatic that she'd told off the prefect. They were all busily congratulating her and patting her on the back, which was extremely confusing and terrifying to Kiru. Malfoy draped his arm over her shoulder, smirking, and she grabbed his free hand for comfort.

"Kiru! That was amazing!"

"You should have obliviated her! Can you do that next time, Kiru?"

"Make her eat slugs, Kiru!"

"Three cheers for the heiress of Slytherin!" one of the seventh years yelled out, and the entire Slytherin house raised their glasses.

"To Kiru!" they cried unanimously over their morning pumpkin juice. "The heiress of Slytherin!"

Kiru, meanwhile, was pale faced and shrinking onto Malfoy. He laughed, and raised his glass right along with the others.

"And the most beautiful of all the Slytherin girls," he whispered in her ear before drinking his whole goblet full. "Hey, meet me outside during lunch, okay? I want to show you something." Kiru blushed a deeper red and watched as her father chuckled at her behavior and slightly raised his own goblet as well.

* * *

Yes, she falls in love with Malfoy. Don't worry, it's not too terribly graphic.

Review? Please?


	5. Betrayals

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/spells_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

There was a ripple throughout the school as the first Hogsmeade visit took place. Kiru was left behind since she was a first year and not permitted to go, but she saw one of the other third years who was left behind. She snuck up behind him, and followed his footprints in the snow exactly.

"You must be Harry Potter," she said just before she yanked the invisibility cloak off him. "What are you doing out here? Trying to get to Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah," he said dejectedly as he turned around. His green eyes reflected what she felt – sorrow, abandonment. "So, Snape's your dad. What's it like?"

"Dunno. I met him on the train, and have been making potions with him ever since in my free time whenever his schedule allows it," Kiru shrugged. "So, why did your mom name you needle?"

"Wait – what?" Harry asked confused, and Kiru looked at him.

"Your name – needle in Japanese. Mine means 'to cut'. I guess my mom was half drunk or something, probably basing it off of 'sever' since that's the root of dad's name. Who are they?" Kiru asked, jerking her head at the Weasley twins.

"The Weasley twins – they love fun and games, not to mention pranks," harry smiled, but frowned as he saw Kiru's evil one.

"What do you say we coerce them into ambushing a prefect? Or rather, helping me ambush her? You see, she's not allowed to touch me, cast a spell on me, or even look at me the wrong way or scold me. Dad's forbidden it after that first night when she outright attacked me. I could get away with almost anything I wanted to against her without evidence to prove it was me," Kiru grinned, and Harry's grin widened.

"Talent for trouble," Harry grinned. "I like it. Come on, let's go have a look. Hey, Fred, George! C'mere!"

The two travelled, swapping abuse stories from their broken homes and lives. Even though Harry hated her father, he couldn't help but sympathize with Kiru – especially since it was her own mother who beat her ruthlessly, and Harry shuddered as she told him why Snape never rescued her. He told her his stories, and his daring escapes, and she openly laughed as he told her about ramming into the Whomping willow and almost getting expelled. She also made a mental note not to repeat that mistake, or with the forest.

"So, this is Hogsmeade?" Kiru asked quietly, looking around. "Wow. Look, I'd better go back to the castle, I've got to get my dog in a bath. I almost completely forgot. Good luck."

"Thanks. You too," Harry said. "I never thought I'd say this about you, but – it was nice meeting you. It really was."

"Thanks. You too," she grinned before racing off back to the castle. When she got back, Professor Lupin was glaring at the location she'd left at. Oops. "Hi, Professor."

"Walk with me," he said calmly, and she tensed up in fear. She knew what he was – her mother had told her that a werewolf was amongst the Gryffindor, and Kiru hadn't let it slip her notice that her father made the Wolfsbane potion once a month. Lupin was the only possible explanation for it.

"Professor, why did the dementor attack me on the train?" she asked, weaseling her way out of trouble.

"There are horrors in your past that most others can't imagine. Harry watched his parents' death, you watched your mother's. You both grew up in less than desirable homes, and I meant no disrespect for Severus. He's turned out to be a fine father for you, a much better one that he could have asked for. I'm sure you can gather the rest," Lupin said kindly.

"Sir, is there a way for me to fend them off? Destroy them? There must be _something_!"she pled desperately.

"There is the Patronus charm, but I'm afraid that I'm not in the right health to teach you. Perhaps Severus when he returns," Lupin said as he strode ahead into his office. Kiru sighed heavily, and headed to the second floor girls' bathroom. She'd noticed how Myrtle flooded the room less often whenever she was visited more often…

"Myrtle, if I told you I could bring you back to life, what would you say?" Kiru asked, and Myrtle's eyes widened.

"I – could you?" Myrtle asked, wondering about what on earth the young Slytherin was talking about.

"I found out a way, but… it's complicated. _Very _complicated, and I'm ninety nine percent sure it's illegal," Kiru grinned. "But that's what's so fun about it. and it's a potion."

"I say to hell with the laws! I want another chance at life!" Myrtle grinned, swooping out of the bathroom and startling the Slytherins. Kiru laughed, wondering if she'd gotten the Slytherin house another ghost in addition to the Bloody Baron.

"Also, I've been fiddling around with the Ocarina my dad gave me. I've figured out a few tunes and given them names and jotted down the notes in code to make sure I remember them," Kiru laughed.

"May I see your notes?" Myrtle asked, and Kiru nodded pulling out her pen and paper. "Oh, what's this Minuet of Woods do?"

"Allows me to control any non-human in a forest, except the centaurs," Kiru grinned. "The Prelude of Light shows me a possible future; the Serenade of water allows me to have fish abilities, like breathing underwater and talking to mermen – don't ask. The song of Time allows me to stop or alter time as I see fit, but only for a few hours at a time. Epona's song, as I call it, summon's something, I'm sure, but I'm not sure what yet. Saria's song is the same way, only it's supposed to open up some sort of telepathic link. I'll figure those two out eventually. The Song of Storms summons rainstorms, and the Sun song summons or dispels the sun. The Requiem of Spirit allows me to change someone's mind or something like that, I think. The Bolero of Fire controls fire, naturally. The Nocturne of Shadow allows me to Necromance, which I think is totally awesome! Hime's Lullaby returns everything to normal, and acts as a lullaby or a key if I need to."

"Kiru!" the female prefect sang a few days later, eager to poison the young first year. "I've got something for you – one of the boys in Gryffindor wanted me to give it to you! Some sort of useless old parchment that insults anyone who tries to read it!"

"Awesome!" Kiru screamed, lunging for the Marauder's Map. "I can't believe he gave it to me! Kyaa!"

"Whatever," she grumbled. "His redhead friend wanted you to have this," she said handing over a bottle of poison of her own concocting. The small girl wouldn't even know what hit her.

"Cool! Thanks!" she yelled over her shoulder as she raced out to the area near the whomping willow.

She screeched to a halt, confused as to why her father was talking in an animal form to the large black dog she'd assigned to be her familiar until further notice. She huffed, then frowned.

"_**Hey, dad, why does this thing say 'Peter Pettigrew' on it? I mean, I know it shows where people are on castle grounds, but I thought Pettigrew was dead,**_" the small blackette asked. (A/N, NOT a racist joke. Hair color joke.)

"_**Kiru, Pettigrew – where did you get that?**_" Snape panicked as he saw the Marauder's Map, and she could tell that the dog was sweating bullets.

"_**The prefect girl gave it to me. Said it was from one of the other prefects, a guy. She wouldn't say anything else, though. Why?**_"

"_**That- this is impossible! Black is the dog, I need him here to help prove his innocence. I've got an idea, but I need you to play along with it and lie low for a while, understand? No rule breaking, and for the love of snakes – give that back to whoever you got it from!**_" he snapped. "_**On second thought, give it to me. I don't want it falling into the wrong hands, and it **_**is **_**my duty as a teacher to enforce the rules. This map breaks about twenty in and of itself.**_"

"_**Right. I'll leave it in your office,**_" she said before dashing back to the dungeons.

"Hey, what's that?" Malfoy asked pointing at the bottle in her hand as she got back to the common rooms.

"Dunno – the prefect girl said that someone paid her to pass it on to me. She said it was from one of the other prefects," Kiru shrugged downing it quickly. "Huh. Tasted kinda like Ginger ale. Oh, what? Don't give me that look!"

"Uh, Kiru-san," Malfoy began hesitantly, and the preteen turned around just as a spell went whooshing past her ear.

"Help!" she screamed, and somehow Hermione's cat clawed its way onto Pettigrew's face. He pointed a wand at her, and she was thrown backwards, rendered unconscious from the blow to her head.

Draco Malfoy frowned as the fat person shrank into a rat. An animagus was roaming the school – something told him that this fatty wasn't the only one. He knew McGonagall was a tabby cat, but who else was there? Sirius Black? Kiru? Granger's cat?

He panicked, and raced to get Mellicent Bullstrode to help him get the small girl into the Hospital wing. Potter stared as they passed, and as did a number of the teachers before rolling their eyes. Professor Snape was nowhere to be seen. The female prefect, on the other hand, held onto the rat that she had begun plotting with. She knew how to get Black back in jail, _and _the first year she hated so much. All she needed was a motive like an attack.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville flinched as Snape burst in on the potions lesson that Slughorn was substituting for. Oh, he was angry, and that meant that someone attacked Kiru again. They kept their heads low, and for once, didn't plot anything or say a word to each other. The bell finally rang to go to lunch, and Harry packed his things quickly. It had been since Christmas since they'd seen Kiru, and it was now April, almost May.

"Potter!" Snape bellowed, and Harry flinched worse. "Don't you dare leave this dungeon!"

"Yes, sir," Harry squeaked, honestly terrified. He'd seen Snape mad at Lockhart, but never, not in a million years anything _near _close to this level of rage. He was a brave and cocky Gryffindor, but this honestly and truly terrified him.

"What do you know about this?" he asked, pulling out the Marauder's Map.

"I gave that to a prefect to give to Kiru! She was asking about the best places to hide from the prefect, so I let her borrow it!" Harry protested, and Snape glared.

"Did you send anything else with her?" Snape asked, and Harry shook his head.

"No, sir. Nobody else did, either. Why? Is she alright?" Harry asked, his eyes clouding over with worry. Normally he wouldn't care less about a Slytherin, but this was the one person who shared a background almost identical to his.

"No," Snape growled. "She's in the hospital wing half fucking dead! Now you can tell me what you know about the prefect, or Peter Pettigrew."

"All I know about Pettigrew was that he was a friend of my dad's," Harry frowned furrowing his brow further. "I swear, Professor, that's all I know, honest! I would never hurt Kiru, not when our pasts are so similar!"

"Get out," Snape growled, and Harry raced out like his life was on the line. He told Ron and Hermione everything, and they gasped.

"Snape has feelings?" Ron asked, shocked. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's ignoring the sorting that school year.

"What I'd like to know, is what happened to Kiru," one of the first year Gryffindors said as they passed the trio. They gasped audibly, suddenly realizing why Snape was so on edge.

"Oh no," Harry and Hermione gasped at the same time, but raced up to the Gryffindor tower anyways – they'd lost all appetite after this recent news.

"I think I'll skip the next Quidditch game to check up on her," Hermione said at last.

"No, it's Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff," Ron and Harry objected.

"Fine, then, after the match," Hermione huffed indignantly.

"How is she?" she heard her father say hesitantly.

"She's got a concussion, and there's some sort of poison in her system – but I can't figure it out! I managed to get some of the potion, perhaps you could decipher it."

"I'll try. Send Draco for me as soon as Kiru starts to wake up."

"I will if he's awake," she heard Madame Pomfrey say with a sigh. "Kids these days are too cruel. I just wish I knew what was going on with you, sweetheart."

Sometime later, Kiru heard a loud noise, and the hospital wing doors burst open to reveal an unconscious Potter, not that Kiru saw him. She knew his aura, somehow, and the feel of a post-dementor attack in his system. Ignoring the excited and terrified murmurs of the other students, Gryffindors by the sound of it, she began concocting poisons in her head to use on the prefect girl. She remained in the darkness, and vaguely heard someone barge in.

"I didn't do it," she heard the prefect girl protesting as a disheveled Marcus Flint dragged her into the room. "What the hell happened to the brat this time?"

"Poison," Flint replied, and the entire Quidditch team backed him up. "Poison that we found in _your_ flask!"

"Okay, I was paid to do that, alright? Some weird fat, short guy with a missing finger!" she screamed, and Snape froze in the doorway. Kiru was rising, but was in a zombie-like state.

Kiru had heard enough. She didn't care what it took – she would kill this prefect if it was the last thing she did. She knew she couldn't open her eyes because of the poison, but she had had enough training under her mother's tutelage to know how to fight back when blind.

"Ariadne, no!" Flint yelled, and Kiru felt herself flying through the air.

"Kiru!" Snape yelled, and Harry stared in shock at what he saw.

A Slytherin prefect had just attacked one of the first years, in her own house at that. And Snape – cold, heartless, emotionless Snape – had tried to stop it and actually lunged for the prefect's throat as the small girl went flying through the window behind her, shattering it and plummeting into the darkness below with nothing to stop her.

* * *

Kiru's dying! Jk, magic will save her.


	6. Patronuses and Killers

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/emphasis_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Kiru's eyes snapped open, her fall somehow broken. She was lying face-down, her stomach draped over a large bird creature's withers. A large straggly man sat atop it, frowning deeply. The bird landed, and the first year realized that the bird had the body of a horse, but with feathers.

"Ah!" she screamed, and the man instantly grabbed her and held her mouth shut.

"I need you to keep quiet about this, understand? I made a deal with your father, and he's going to help me clear my name. I was framed for a crime, but you father's making the Veritaserum to force down the real criminal's throat and clear my name. You never saw me, understand?" the man growled, and Kiru felt her world fading. "Kid? Kid!"

Snape raced out to the forbidden forest. The coin was burning, he knew it meant trouble. The prefect was now in the Ministry's hands, and he had finally gotten a hold of that stupid rat of the youngest Weasley's, with the help of Crookshanks.

He frowned and sighed heavily. He heard the girl muttering an incantation angrily. This was going to end very badly, he just knew. A swarm of dementors was flocking near him, and he cast his patronus – a doe.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly raced out to the whomping willow. They'd gotten fed up with waiting to solve this, and had gone to Hagrid for a visit to take things – namely Kiru and her attackers – off their minds. Ron grabbed Scabbers, but was startled by Kiru's oversized dog.

"Harry, look, it's the Grim!" he panicked, and Harry ducked to avoid the familiar canine. "Help!" Ron screamed as he was dragged under the whomping willow's roots.

"Look out!" Hermione squealed just before Crookshanks darted forwards to reveal the secret knot.

"Thanks, Crookshanks," Harry grinned, and raced down alongside Hermione. He heard a familiar snake urging him forwards, telling him to beware the illegal animagus, and to trust the false criminal.

"Any idea what it means?" Hermione asked when he translated it to her. He shook his head, and they continued up into the shrieking shack. They could faintly hear music, an odd, eerie sound that seemed eerily familiar with a different air. (A/N, the Nocturne of Shadows.) It morphed into a different, calm and bright song, one that the trio recognized.

"The Minuet of Forest," Ron murmured as he heard more creaking below.

"Ron!" they breathed in unison, and the redhead panicked.

"No! it's a trap! He's an animagus!" the boy panicked pointing across the room.

"Oh, I'm not the only one, boy. Expelliarmus!" the man waved a knife, brandishing it as a wand. Ron's wand was sent flying, and Lupin burst in on the scene.

"Sirius, no! These children are innocent. I'm no fool – I know why you came, and what you're after. We just need to have a little more patience my friend," Lupin assured.

"I did my waiting – thirteen years of it! in Azkaban!" Black roared manicacally, and Snape burst in.

"Ah, Severus," Lupin squeaked, and Snape grinned.

"We had a deal," Black glared, and the trio glared at him, Lupin confused as well.

"Weasley – the rat. Now," Snape said darkly. "Black, dog. Lupin – drink it. I've got the potion in my office. Not that one, Black, the one Lupin needs!"

"Harry, don't trust him, he's a werewolf!" Hermione shrieked, and Snape leered.

"I'd keep my mouth shut if I didn't want detention for the rest of the year, Granger," Snape snarled.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry bellowed.

"Relashio!" Kiru bellowed, pointing her own wand at Harry. She smiled softly, and Snape brought her into a side hug, kissing her forehead.

"Nicely done," he grinned, turning his attention back to Sirius and Remus, who were once again arguing. "Oh, look at you two – bickering like a married couple!"

"I'm telling you, he's alive!" Black insisted.

"You should listen to your friends more, Remus," Snape sneered, and the werewolf's eyes widened.

"You've been letting him in the whole time, haven't you?" Ron glared, pointing at Remus.

"Hardly," Kiru snorted. "He's been here the whole year. Isn't that right, _Snuffles_?"

"Indeed," Black grinned, and the girl immediately started scratching behind his ear. He started tapping his foot before snapping out of it. "Gah!"

"You know you liked it!" Kiru laughed, and Snape couldn't help but smirk at his daughter's cruel antics.

"Gaki," Sirius murmured. "I saved your life, and this is how you repay me?"

"Hey, that was you getting even for me covering for your sorry mutt ass," Kiru snapped.

"I recommend we head back to the castle, _before _sunset," Snape suggested, and they all immediately complied. Harry, grudgingly, but followed. "Potter, if you attack me, you lose the chance to put your parents' murderer behind bars. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

"No, sir," Harry grumbled.

"Kiru! Where – Shit!" he panicked, realizing it was the full moon. "Get behind me!"

Lupin made the gruesome transformation into a werewolf, and Black snarled. A long brawl ensued, and Black stumbled away badly injured. Kiru frowned, having run away. Sirius was her familiar, sort of, and at least deserved a chance to be with Harry.

"Auuu!" she howled, holding her hands over her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Snape snapped, stopping her.

"Saving your friend's son," she retorted. "Auuu!"

"Now it's attacking us," Snape retorted angrily. "Run!"

Ron and Hermione panicked, Snape yanking Ron off the ground with a flick of his wand, and the trio raced back to the castle. He panicked once more when he realized that he'd only gotten Hermione and Ron to safety.

"Damn it! Stay here!" he yelled as he thrust Ron onto the front step and dove out of sight into the form of a black snake.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry bellowed, a small shield coming out of the end of his wand. Just as his faded, another emerged from across the lake. A stag – his father! His father was a ghost and had come to protect him!

The stag chased off the dementors just as Harry let himself fall unconscious. Snape raced into the clearing to find the Stag dispersing, and recognized a certain wizard's handiwork. He saw the dementors coming back, but didn't recognize what was chasing them. It was a dragon, a long serpentine one that looked like something off of a movie. (A/N, think the long skinny one off of Mulan on the flags, or Haku on Spirited Away.)

"Kiru?" he murmured as he flicked his wand to lift Sirius and Harry back to the castle.

"_**Crookshanks, help me! I need you to translate to the werewolf! I need his help! Crookshanks, please, don't leave me alone to die!**_" Kiru panicked in Parseltongue as the wolf sauntered up to her. The cat hissed angrily, and the wolf growled. After a bit longer, the werewolf relaxed. Kiru felt cold – very cold. Happiness began to fade, and Kiru shook her head.

"No! Expecto Patronum!" she screamed, thinking of the moment her father had saved her life and told her that he loved her. A long, serpentine dragon burst out of the end of her wand, and began driving the dementors back towards the lake where they'd come from.

"A dragon, eh, girl?" a voice sneered, and Kiru swerved to face Pettigrew. "No doubt after Draco, Lucius Malfoy's boy. A pity he won't be able to help you, not now that I know your weakness. Remove your pants, or I'll put you under the Imperius Curse."

"You wouldn't! That's illegal!" Kiru gasped, falling backwards over her cloaks.

"And you are going to be the person to help me lose my virginity," Pettigrew sneered, yanking off Kiru's pants.

"_**Serpents! Help me, please! Bite him! Suffocate him! Anything!**_" Kiru pled, and three or four snakes slithered forward, hissing angrily.

"Blasted snakes you brat! Immobolize!" Pettigrew snapped, using her own wand against her. "There. Now, then, just remove your panties, then my pants, and – what the?"

The werewolf had returned, growling angrily at the death eater spy.

"Remus? Remus, it's me, Peter! You remember me? Peter Pettigrew! Wormtail!" the adult grinned, zipping his trousers back up. But, it was too late, and Kiru had already seen the excessive bulge in his underwear and boxers.

"Help!" she screamed, and Wormtail slapped her across the face.

The werewolf growled openly, baring his fangs before he leapt forward, slashing at Pettigrew's face. He continued growling angrily, and Pettigrew thrust him backwards with a powerful ricochet spell. Kiru screamed, and Pettigrew found himself immobilized.

"Hello, Peter," an adult Harry greeted lowly. "Tell me, what are you doing to the girl who is the owner of Padfoot's dog form?"

"Ah, James! I was just about to give her what she was asking for!" Peter lied quickly.

"Really? Because from the look on her face, she wants nothing more than to get away from you," the adult Potter spat angrily. "In case you hadn't noticed, she can summon the dead, and Lily and I. Well, needless to say you are in the biggest trouble yet. I believe it has something to do with her clan's secret weapon."

"James, keep him here, I'll get her dressed," a redhead said sternly. Kiru recognized the green eyes, and trusted the woman. Wary, but trusting. "Little one, little one, it's alright, I'm Lily Potter. You summoned my husband and me. We're here to help you."

"How?" Kiru sobbed, and the woman smiled softly.

"It was a gift of your mother's. She said she inherited it from her father. She also said something about only being able to summon when you play the right song, and if they signed a contract during that time they could come whenever you played the song again," Lily shrugged.

"Thank you," Kiru sobbed, holding the redhead tight. She fished around, and Lily pulled out a knife and cut herself.

"All the contract needs is a bloody fingerprint. Here," she said gently. "James, sign it."

"Hm? Oh," he grinned, also slicing his thumb and pressing it down on the blank parchment. "There. Fill it in how you please – we trust you. You don't seem like the normal cold-hearted Slytherin."

"James!" Lily scolded, immobilizing Pettigrew.

The wolf whined lowly, crouching down and laying on his back in a sign of submission. She gawked, and soon came to her senses. Werewolves must have been covered by the Minuet of Woods! That meant she could control him!

"Kiru!" a faint voice could be heard in the distance.

"Daddy! Daddy, Wormtail!" Kiru shrieked, writhing against Lily Potter's arms, and within minutes Snape had burst into the clearing. "Daddy!" she said breaking free and racing over to clutch him.

"March, both of you," Snape snapped. "Lily, what are you two doing out of your graves?"

"Your daughter summoned us in an act of desperate need for protection," she answered. "Wormtail was about to rape her."

"I can smell that," Severus wrinkled his nose up in disgust. "Kiru, did you inherit your mother's ability of Necromancy via…gifts?"

"Yes," Kiru squeaked, and fainted from exhaustion and terror.

"Kiru," she heard her father say. "Fine. Reenervate."

Her eyes snapped open. She shook her head, and Snape placed her on the werewolf's back.

"Relax, we'll be here to keep him in line while Severus goes to turn Peter in for turning us in to you-know-who," Lily assured. "We can be summoned at a moment's notice now, so summon us how you see fit, Kiru-chan."

"Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Thanks dad! Love you!" she called out after his retreating frame. "Alright, Professor Lupin, let's go see what our golden trio's up to, huh?"

The wolf snarled ferociously, rocketing towards the castle on all fours. As terrified as Kiru was, she couldn't help but trust her new companions. James had transformed into a stag, and was now carrying a startled Lily on his back.

"So, let me get this straight," the board asked one final time. "You can prove Sirius Black's innocence?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said as Snape walked in holding Pettigrew at wand point. "My first witness is Peter Pettigrew, the one who commit the crimes. Severus Snape is assisting me with the Veritaserum."

"The truth syrum," Fudge said interested. "All right, Pettigrew. Did you or did you not act as secret keeper for Lily and James Potter?"

"I did. I turned them in to the Dark Lord. I knew that if I didn't, I'd get killed, or worse, Bellatrix would torture me like she planned to do the Longbottoms. I told him, begging him to leave James alone and to just kill the boy. I knew they could always have another one to replace him. When they ended up dead, I was distraught. I hid, not wanting Sirius to find me, for fear that he'd kill me for betraying them. When he tried to kill me, I dodged into a house, and plotted my escape. I cut off my finger, planted it in the street, and faked a final showdown with him. I knew he'd try something drastic, so when he tried to kill me, I blew up the street and transformed into a rat to hide. I knew that he'd take the rap for it, and so I hid. A few years ago, I found a nice home to hide in as an animagus rat, until Remus and Snivellus found me!" Pettigrew growled angrily. "So I ran from them, knowing they'd kill me if I was at Hogwarts."

"Did you or did you not kill Sarabella Peverell?" Fudge asked, and Snape dropped a few more drops of Veritaserum into the man's mouth.

"Yes, I knew it was only a matter of time before she sold me out. I knew the Dark Lord had put an Imperius curse on her, and would attack the girl as well. I wanted to atone for what I'd done to Harry, so I killed Sarabella – who was slowly killing her child with abuse – and took the child. When the child struggled and tried to blow my cover, I panicked and attacked her. The only thing that stopped me was a large stay mutt that attached itself to her," Pettigrew grunted angrily. "Just after the dementors entered the train, I convinced a fifth year prefect to help me in my quest. As an added bonus, she was the daughter of a fellow death eater. She attacked the girl, trying to put an Imperius curse on her, but the girl set up a shield and the spell ricocheted off onto a toad."

"Did you attack her again?" Fudge asked, and Pettigrew laughed loudly.

"Oh, I did more than that," he grinned evilly. "I watched as the prefect slapped Snape's girl, and grinned as I knew she'd probably commit suicide that night. Again, interference came, this time in the form of that stupid ghost Moaning Myrtle and the head of Slytherin house. So, I began plotting in the Forbidden Forest how to get the brat out of my way. I created a poison of my own special concoction – one that only true love with a pure-blood wizard can break – that would cause her to have extremely unstable use of her magic. I tried to do the same thing a second time in the Slytherin common rooms, but Lucius' boy got in the way. You know, the Malfoy. Oh, I would have tortured him then and there if I wasn't scared of Lucius and Narcissa's wrath. I tried numerous times over the course of the year, more and more often as Sirius kept getting closer and closer, but I could never strike at night. No, not with Sirius sleeping in his dog form sleeping at the foot of the girl's bed, and with Severus right next door. No, I had a much better idea in mind. So, I waited, biding my time. I finally seized my moment in the Forbidden Forest just tonight when a werewolf protected the brat. It understood some sort of cat, which understood Parseltongue, one of the brat's gifts from her mother. The brat used her mother's powers more to summon Lily and James Potter from the dead. Don't ask how, I don't know!"

"All in favor of snapping Pettigrew's wand and destroying his abilities as an animagus," Fudge announced, and the hands rose unanimously. "Very well then. Sirius Black is freed of all charges, and Peter Pettigrew will be sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban! As for Black, I will need you to come here for a moment please."

"Yes?" he said warily.

"I understand you're an animagus. Now, if you can give us a reason to remain so, I will permit you to keep your form and not pay a fine," Fudge warned.

"I wanted it to keep an eye on a werewolf friend of mine in my fifth year. James, Peter and I loved going out with Moony every full moon. Now, though, I just want to use it to help catch Death Eaters and to protect my Godson," Sirius said honestly.

"Very well. Sign here," Fudge said, holding out the list.

"Severus is on here," Sirius realized. "and a … snake…"

"Yes, yes, my animagus is a snake," Snape said coldly as a familiar Slytherin burst into the room.

"Professor Snape, Ariadne just killed Kiru with the killing curse!" Malfoy yelled, and Snape's heart went from sky high to the deepest pit of his stomach.

* * *

Okay, _now _Kiru's doomed.

Review? Please?


	7. The Truth Will Set You Free!

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/emphasis_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Well?" McGonagall asked as she looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Will they be alright? Where's Kiru?"

Madame Pomfrey shrugged. "I don't know. The headmaster said that it was something extremely important that they convict the real criminal. Who on earth is knocking at this hour?"

"Bombarta!" the prefect screamed. Her plan had failed – the girl had lived, and now she was in huge trouble since Veritaserum spilled one's secrets. Pettigrew would reveal that it was her who was letting him in and out of the castle and around the Slytherin common rooms.

"Expelliarmus!" a voice sounded, and the prefect wheeled to face an angry Kiru riding a very large werewolf. "Nice try. But now it's my turn. Sit your butt down before I let it loose."

"That's a werewolf," McGonagall stammered, knowing Remus was one, but not knowing this was him.

"Yup. I convinced him to help me via Parseltongue translated by a cat. It's amazing how many animals can understand each other," Kiru grinned evilly. "Especially with criminals harboring each other."

"Avada Kedavra!" the prefect screamed, and a green jet of light shot out of the wand.

"No!" a scream was heard, a white mist darting in front of the attack, but it still hit Kiru straight in the chest.

"Kiru!" McGonagall screamed, and Lupin snarled at the fifth year, lunging forward.

Myrtle screamed and surged downwards back into her toilet, lonely once more. She could faintly feel the girl's life force, but simply thought of it as a subconscious desire to haunt the school's prefects and ensure the safety of the first years.

"No!" the prefect screamed as the angry werewolf slashed her face harshly. She retreated down to the dungeons, right into the hands of a ministry official. "Kill it! it tried to kill me!"

"And you killed your own classmate," the auror growled, Mad-Eye Moody to be precise. He dragged her off, his eyes swiveling upwards. "Strike that – attempted murder. Her heart's still beatin, but just barely."

(Dreamstate Kiru POV)

I looked around. Everything was different, so open, and free. Everything I wanted, but could never have. I screamed as I saw a giant snake approach, a white one, and flinched as it shrank into a form I knew too well – my mother.

"Kiru," she smiled. "I'm so sorry. You know of the Imperius Curse, yes?"

"Yeah," I replied warily. Dad had taught me all the Unforgivable Curses, and even the Confundus charm. Tonight was the first time that my Patronus had come to fruitions.

"I was under it. After Voldemort – Aka, the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, Tom Riddle, etc – found out you were born, but didn't know the father, he used it on me. He swore he'd take it off once I told him who the father was, but that until then, I would beat you and make your life a living hell. I'm so sorry, baby. I knew it would hurt you, but I had to – he'd kill you if I didn't," Sarabella sobbed. "Your father and I are half-bloods, believe it or not. I started dating your father after he was desperate enough and broken after Lily Potter's death."

"So, Harry's my cousin, in a way?" Kiru asked, and Sarabella shook her head.

"No, but Sirius Black is my cousin through my mom," she smiled softly. "Your father – well, his father was a drunkard, so at least you were safe from that."

"I'm…dead?" Kiru asked, looking around.

"No, pet. The Dark Lord tried to put the Imperius Curse on you, too," Sarabella explained. "I knew he would order you to kill your father, and I knew that he would most likely kill me if I got in the way, so I intervened. I knew full well what I was doing, and that was what protected you. I was part Slytherin, believe it or not – through one of Slytherin's descendants, albeit a very distraught and dangerous one. He'd been put in Azkaban and had been tricked into fathering a child – my grandmother. You are, in a sense, related to the dark lord. It was my protection spell that protected you."

"But what about that killing curse?" Kiru asked worriedly.

"It never hit you fully. It bounced off of a shield that a ghost was projecting. Moaning Myrtle, to be exact. You're free," Sarabella grinned. "Oh, you're a musiclancer, as I'm sure you can figure out, another trait from me, this one from my father. Musiclancers can project magic through musical instruments and perform certain tasks depending on the song and instrument. I see you've already mastered the Minuet of Woods and the Nocturne of Shadow – well done! Those two are the hardest ones! You may choose life with your father, or death with me. It's your choice. I'm just sorry I couldn't be the mother you wanted and needed when I was alive."

"I should ruddy well think so," Kiru yelled as she rejoined the world of the living, just as her mother whispered instructions of how to bring someone dead back to life into her ears. She could hear Lupin whining softly as he licked her face. (A/N: back to 3rd PoV)

"Remus?" she heard McGonagall finally realize, and the wolf nodded.

"Sensei…" Kiru muttered, and they all audibly gasped. Myrtle stopped crying, sensing Kiru's spirit return, and zoomed back up to the hospital wing.

"Kiru? Are you hurt?" McGonagall asked, confused as to what was going on.

"Myrtle…Where's Myrtle?" Kiru asked, and they gasped as she floated through the floor. "Thanks, Myrtle. You saved my life back there – I owe you one."

"Kiru!" Myrtle squealed, immediately spinning round and round over the first year's head. She stopped short, however, when the Hospital wing doors burst open. Kiru immediately closed her eyes and began to breathe shallowly, her mother's training for playing possum coming into play.

"Is it true?" a short man asked, and the ghost snapped to attention. "Did the prefect I've been hearing so much about from Lucius really attack the first year again?"

"Yes," McGonagall confirmed. "The killing curse. If our Myrtle hadn't got in the way, young Miss Snape would be dead. As of right now, I'm not sure what will happen to her. All I know is that she survived."

"Impossible," the man murmured, putting his fingers on the side of her throat. "I don't believe it – she's alive, but how?"

"I'm not sure," McGonagall said warily, eyeing Myrtle.

"It's my doing, sir," Myrtle flew up happily. "I willed there to be a protection shield, the strongest ever, and I wanted the prefect to die instead, and – I don't know how, but it saved Kiru-chan's life."

"And the werewolf?" Fudge asked warily.

"I have no idea. Kiru rode it in as the prefect attacked us," Harry spoke up finally.

"Daddy…" Kiru breathed quietly, letting them know she was still alive.

"I don't believe it," Fudge shook his head. "Minerva, fetch Severus and Sirius. I'm sure they'll be interested in this. Oh, and well done on catching Pettigrew children. You should be proud for freeing an innocent man and catching a criminal in one night."

"We had help," Ron said warily, and Snape and Sirius barged in right as Fudge lowered Kiru onto a bed via wand.

"Kiru!" Snape cried out, panicking. "No, no no, stay with me! Kiru, don't you _dare _leave me alone with these useless gaki-teme*! No, no, I can't lose you! Not after I just got you back…Kiru…"

"Wow, Severus, I didn't know you could cry," Black grinned, then stopped cold when he saw who was lying on the bed. "Oh, no. Not the girl. Not the one who protected me this whole time, who fed me! No!"

"Kiru," Snape sobbed, tears flowing down his face. He didn't care that his least favorite students were watching, or that Black was either. He was losing the only family he had left! "Baby, I'm so sorry. I should have expelled her when she tried to use the Imperius curse on you, but I thought she would change. I'm so sorry… I love you…"

"Love you too," she rasped out, opening an eye with a grin. "Mom says 'hi' and that she's sorry, too."

"Oh, baby, I thought I'd lost you!" Snape gasped as he pulled her into a tight hug. He kissed the side of her head, and went back to holding her close. "You will never do that to me again, you hear me?"

"Not my fault," she grunted. "But I'll try, dad. I promise. Dad?"

"Yes?" Snape asked gently as he pulled up a chair next to her bed.

"Can we make that potion now?" Kiru asked, and Snape smiled as he let her relax onto the bed.

"When Madame Pomfrey says you can, I promise you we will. Even if I have to cancel class," he smiled gently. "Who let the werewolf in?"

"I did for Minuet of Woods practice and protection," Kiru blushed, and saw Draco Malfoy pad up to the wing. "Draco!"

"Kiru? Kiru, you're alive!" Malfoy rejoiced, racing over and leaping over her bed to hug her tightly. "Holy crap, I told Professor Snape as soon as I saw her use that killing curse! How did you survive?"

"Myrtle jumped in the way," Kiru explained, and Snape's eyes widened. "Yes, Moaning Myrtle."

"Pimply! Pimply! Pimply!" they heard Peeves screaming as Myrtle came zooming back in with him hot on her heels.

"Peeves!" Kiru screeched, and the Poltergeist stopped cold. Kiru grinned, cracking her knuckles dangerously.

"Sorry, your majesty, necromancer, ma'am," he grinned sheepishly before zooming out of sight.

"Speaking of which," Snape said dangerously. "You never said that you could do so. Your mother didn't either."

"I didn't know until in the forbidden forest," Kiru cowered. "And summon two bodies." _Alongside controlling Remus_.

"Who'd you summon? Surely not Myrtle," Ron snorted. Kiru grinned, pullet out the contract, and began writing.

_Lily and James Potter, died Halloween 1981 to protect Harry James Potter from Tom Marvolo "Voldemort" Riddle. You are to be summoned when I call out your names and also yell, "I summon you" or "come forth". Kiru Snape_

"Kiru," Snape said warily, and she grinned. "Oh, I understand. You can only summon them if you've summoned them before. And if you haven't, it must be a time of dire need for you to summon them."

"Exactly," the first year grinned. "Lily and James Potter, I summon you!"

The students and faculty, except the Snape duo, jumped out of their skins whenever two skeletal hands appeared from the floor. The rest of the skeletons appeared, followed by robes, and in a swirl of cloth and dust, the rest of them formed.

"And you were saying getting summoned was a bad thing," James smirked. "Sirius!"

"Severus!" Lily squealed, hugging the startled Potions master. "I never thought I'd say this, but you were right, we should have trusted Remus or Sirius more than Wormtail!"

"Speaking of which," Kiru smirked. "Before you two do anything else, look behind you."

The two looked, and stared at their son, who sat and stared in shock at them right back. Lily squealed and pulled him into a tight hug, her eyes pouring over him. Hermione and Ron looked away, the former having tears in her eyes, and James ruffled Harry's hair.

"Thanks, Kiru-chan," they said in unison. "We owe you one."

"Bull. This is my way of saying thanks for saving me," she shrugged. "Which reminds me – Myrtle, get over here. I've got an idea. I learned something while I was unconscious – I can bring you back to life, but it requires a human sacrifice. Any ideas?"

"I'd say 'Malfoy', but he's in the room," Ron grumbled.

"I'm disagreeing there, Ron," Harry shook his head. "He's Kiru's friend, and she's a friend of mine. I still hate him, but if she wants to hang out with him, then so be it. No, I was thinking Wormtail, or better yet, one of the other death Eater's that's got a life sentence in Azkaban. It'd put them out of their misery, at least, and we don't have to worry about them rejoining you-know-who."

"Harry/Potter's right," Hermione and Malfoy nodded. They glared at each other, then looked opposite ways. "What do you think, Professor?"

"I despise the idea," McGonagall snapped.

"I love it," Snape grinned. "Kill off a few enemies, I say bring on the payback. Not intended on you two, although it's quite tempting…"

"Oh, call off it, I knew you were better off with Sarabella anyways," Lily grinned and she punched him on the shoulder. "So, when did you two get married?"

"We didn't," Snape scowled. "I ditched her to protect her, and she ended up under the Imperius Curse. In the end, she killed herself because of what Wormtail thought of 'Redeeming himself' for turning you in."

"Yeah, right! He tried to-!" Kiru yelled, stopping short at Snape's harsh scolding glare. She shivered violently in remembrance of what had happened, and he put his arms around her protectively. "Just saying."

"We know, little one," James sighed. "We fought him off, remember? Besides, you're back with your dad, and out of your mom's house till the summer's back."

"Sarabella's dead, Potter," Snape said coldly. "She'll be coming back with me to Spinner's end. I _am _her father after all."

"I knew it!" Lily shrieked, smacking him upside the head. "You liar! You said you never lost your virginity!"

"That was _before_ you were killed," Snape retorted. "Your son is in his third year. My daughter is in her first. Three minus one equals two years later."

"Oh," Lily realized. "Sorry."

"You never listened when I apologized," Snape retorted with a snort.

"Yeah, cause you called her a mudblood," James Potter snapped. The two whipped out their wands, preparing to duel, but a sudden agonized howl got in the way.

"Oops," Kiru smiled sheepishly. "_**Crookshanks, can you tell him that he can go out to the forest now? I don't want anything happening. I completely forgot, wow, I'm an idiot.**_"

"Wait, back up," Harry said shaking his head, focusing. "_**You speak it?**_"

"You speak it, too? Wow!" Kiru grinned childishly. "Dad, you could have said that!"

"I assumed you put two and two together. I told you that Potter opened the chamber of secrets, and you opened it with Parseltongue."

"Harry," Lily said at last. "Is there something you'd like to tell us?"

"I love you," he grinned sheepishly, his parents looking down at him for an explanation. "Oh, I'm in for a long night."

"Oh yes you are, young man. Start explaining," Lily scolded pulling up a chair as he started explaining what he'd lived through after their deaths.

* * *

*gaki - brat; Teme - bastard; both are Japanese.

Snape can speak a little Japanese because of what Sarabella taught him.

Review, you know you want to!


	8. The Feast

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/emphasis_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Wow," the Gryffindor's murmured. Within days, the whole school now knew that Kiru was a necromancer, but would only summon someone that she had summoned previously. Which – as the other students soon learned – only included three people: Sarabella Peverell, Lily Potter, and James Potter.

The two Potters sat on each side of Harry, with Ron, Hermione, and Neville across from them. For some strange reason that they refused to explain, they'd taken Neville in under their wings. He'd enjoyed it when Lily had helped him in Potions, and James had helped in Transfiguration. Lily and James were quick to diagnose the problem – simple lack of self-confidence was Neville's only problem.

Kiru, meanwhile, was constantly surrounded by overexcited Slytherins who were overjoyed at having their female prefect in Azkaban for ten years. Snape hadn't set up a new one yet, but the role had unanimously fallen onto Kiru's vigilante shoulders. Draco Malfoy was more than eager to share his wealth and wisdom with her, even giving her new spells to work on during free time when Snape was busy.

"Draco," a slimy voice came from behind, and the third year turned around.

"Father!" he jumped up, hugging his father. "It's so good to see you! What brings you here?"

"I just came to see the first year friend you've been writing about all year in your letters," he smirked. "A first year a prefect has taken to torturing, if my memory serves me right. The prefect is now is Azkaban, yes?"

"Ah, yes. Dad, this is Kiru. Kiru, this is my dad," Draco introduced, and the girl jumped up from her seat like it was electrified.

"It's so nice to meet you, Mr. Malfoy," she grinned, bowing before hesitantly shaking his hand. "I'm sorry, my mother drilled Japanese customs into my head as a child."

"Ah, then you're Sarabella's girl," Lucius said with his eyes twinkling with recognition. "Then, you've found your father?"

"Yup! I had him wrapped around my finger as soon as I put on the sorting hat!" she boasted, then flinched as something hit her from behind. "Wh-Oh snakes…"

"What?" Draco asked, and she handed him the note, blushing dark crimson, twiddling her index fingers. (A/N: Think Hinata off of Naruto.) "I swear, if it wasn't illegal to use the Unforgivable curses…"

"They're illegal for a reason!" Kiru objected, hurt evident in her eyes. "My mother and I were tortured with one simple one of those from Wormtail's mouth, Draco…"

"I'm sorry," Draco said immediately, sorrow filling his eyes, and a cold half-empty sympathy from the older Malfoy. "I didn't know."

"Draco," Lucius urged, nodding at Dumbledore. The two sat down, with Goyle scooting down to make enough room for Lucius to join them. Lucius snuck a look at the note, and frowned, glaring at the youngest male Weasley who was laughing his head off. Granger and the Potters were frowning at him as well.

"As you can all see, we have a few guests among us! Let us give them our warmest welcome in these final days of terms!" Dumbledore began, his eyes twinkling. "As I'm sure you all know, Peter Pettigrew has confessed to committing the crimes that Sirius Black was accused of, and was tried and placed in Azkaban for the rest of his life. Black is currently at the Gryffindor table with his two best friends and his godson. In other news, our Slytherin heiress is back."

The Slytherin house burst out into applause, the Gryffindor house – except the Weasleys, Hermione, Neville, Sirius, and the Potter trio – to burst into loud _Boo_ing. Kiru simply blushed deeper, and Draco held her hand under the table. She smiled at him, and turned back to the headmaster.

"And you were saying everyone hated you," Draco grinned. "Look how much we missed you!"

"Only cause dad was in a bad mood with me gone or hurt," Kiru retorted, jabbing him.

"I am pleased to inform you that Professor Slughorn is no longer teaching, and Professor Snape will be returning to his post now that his daughter is healthy once more!" Dumbledore continued once all the noise died down, only to have the entire Great Hall burst into applause.

"What happened while I was gone?" Kiru asked, extremely confused, looking at the Potions Master, who was equally as appalled, but his face never showed it.

"Slughorn was a menace," Draco shuddered. "No brewing, no wands, just lecture and notes. And review what we learned in our first years."

"Ah," Kiru grinned, her two corpses looking over their shoulders at her. She shook her head, motioning for them to stay seated.

"So, you're the necromancer I keep hearing of in the hallways," Lucius grinned.

"Yes, sir," Kiru returned to normal. "But, I can only summon the dead if I've summoned them before, or if I'm in dire need of them. I've only managed Mr. and Mrs. Potter, so far."

"I see," Lucius frowned. "Perhaps Salazar Slytherin?"

"Um…I'm not sure if I can go that far back or not… I'll be happy to try when I'm not using a steady stream of magic to keep the Potters out, if that's alright with you, sir," she said politely.

"Father, you're scaring her," Draco frowned.

"Ah, no, it's okay!" Kiru said shyly. "It's not that! It's…well…my past, to say the least."

"Ah. Your mom?" Draco asked, and Kiru nodded. "Why not summon her to see if she's truly sorry? Or, better yet, just to taunt her and have your dad get mad at her."

"Now, now, Draco," Lucius scolded. "You were accusing me of scaring her?"

"Sorry," Draco flushed lightly.

"You like her!" Pansy spat angrily, and Kiru grinned.

"Pansy, would you like me to summon a Basilisk to petrify you until I'm out of school?" Kiru asked sweetly, and the older girl immediately fled to the other side of the table, far away from her. Draco laughed and couldn't help but pound his fist on the table. Lucius simply smiled and rubbed his son's back.

"Genius," Draco gasped when he finished laughing, tears coming from his eyes. "Do that again!"

"I wish, dad's keeping an eye on me," Kiru grinned, and the young Malfoy's eyes snapped up to Snape's, who was leering at them. Kiru waved giddily, and Draco saluted the Potions master. "I wish we could keep in touch during the summer…"

"We can! Owls and letters," Draco said happily, writing down his address. "Here – something tells me I'm the only one who will write you during the summer. Write me when you get home so I know where to send the letters, okay?"

"Thanks, Draco," Kiru grinned. "That makes me feel better that I won't be without contact from another Slytherin who isn't my dad. Not that I have anything against him!"

"Kiru," Lucius said suddenly. "Who is your father?"

Kiru said nothing, blushing deeply, looking off to the right. A loud noise came from the left, and the entire school's eyes widened.

"You little bitch, Snape! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I'll do, you _Gaki_!" the prefect screamed, her wand brandished. Kiru raised her arms, and within moments, the two Potters were at a fighting stance with the girl. "Stop hiding behind your damn corpses and fight me like a woman, you coward!"

"Obliviate," the small girl whispered as the teen dueled the two adults, whose eyes were now blank, along with their faces. The teen dodged, and the two adults destroyed the curse. The teen whirled around, sending the small girl flying backwards.

"Die! Avada Kedavra!" the teen yelled.

"Protego!" the two adults yelled, bringing up another corpse. This one was different, pale, onyx eyes glaring into that of a teen. "May we?"

"Have fun," Kiru gasped, bleeding profusely from her side. The two adults began weaving around, turning the Great Hall into an elegant ballroom. The two Malfoy's raced up to her, the elder of the two next to her, and the latter stitched up her wound easily. She gasped audibly, grasping the younger Malfoy's left arm in pain. Her head was killing her, but nothing she couldn't handle.

"Kiru," Lucius began, but she grinned.

"If it's alright," she said quietly. "I want to see what I can do."

"Very well," he said nodding, jerking his head to let them know to back off.

"Your curse once made me pay, but I found a way away. Ariadne beware, young Snape is awake! Revenge will be sweet, once _my _curse is complete! As the pieces fall into place, I'll watch you writhe into place! Sayonara, Ariadne, yerou. Terror's the least I can do! Soon you will feel that your nightmares are real," Kiru sang darkly in a light soprano. Draco's eyes widened in confusion, but he was held back by his father. "You'll be through! Prefect, here's a sign, it's the end of your line. Come my minions, rise for your mistress, let your powers shine! Bind her now, yes, fly ever faster!"

The two Potters, as well as a few other skeletons, rose angrily, screaming "in the dark of the night! in the dark of the night! in the dark of the night!"

"She'll be mine!" Kiru screamed as the corpses drank all the magic from the ex-prefect, Kiru's wizarding robes turned black, the majority of the corpses not needed further. Well, with one exception. "Myrtle, come here!"

"Yes?" the preteen asked, grinning widely. She saw the contract, and immediately drew blood. "If I may, may I have the same one as the Potters?" Kiru nodded, and she put her bloody fingerprint on the bottom of the fresh parchment. Kiru wrote out the same words for Myrtle that she did for the Potters, with the exception of the names, date of death, and the reason for death.

"Thank you, Myrtle," Kiru grinned sweetly, eyeing the girl's Ravenclaw's robes. "The rest of you – except the Potters – may go." Within seconds, Myrtle and the two Potters were the only summoned corpses around. "Myrtle, feel free to go taunt Peeves or someone else. For good measure, why not spend time with an outcast Ravenclaw?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Myrtle saluted, dashing above the tables and landing next to Luna. The two were immediately immersed in conversation.

"A real piece of work," Snape said. "I can hardly believe you got her to stop shrieking. She was driving Filch and me mad. Well done."

"Kiru," Lucius smirked, trying not to laugh. "Did you base that off of a movie called _Anastasia _by chance? A song called _In the Dark of the Night_?"

"I never watched movies as a kid," Kiru said simply. "I never had a childhood period."

"Nice job with all those corpses," Draco grinned. "But why'd you keep _her _out?"

"Because," Kiru said falling backwards into Snape and Draco's waiting arms. "She kept me alive that first night."

"Oh, when the prefect drove you to almost commit suicide?" Draco asked gently, and Kiru nodded. "How did she stop you?"

"Sob stories," Kiru shrugged. "It's weird. She fits in now better than she did fifty years ago. And you wanted a muggle born to die last year."

"I was hoping for Granger," Draco frowned. "She gets on my every nerve."

"Don't blame you," Kiru grinned. "Hey, Draco? Would you be able to understand me if I spoke in Japanese?"

"No, sorry," he said shaking his head, and Lucius chuckled. "What?"

"I could teach him," the older Malfoy offered, and both students' eyes lit up. "I'll take that as a yes, please."

"Yeah!" Kiru grinned, a sinking in her gut. She pulled out the Ocarina, and began playing a swift tune lightly (A/N, think Zelda's Lullaby). The two Potters and Myrtle got misty eyed, and they began disappearing in a swirl of dust. She could vaguely see Harry upset, and quickly getting a few last words in before they left.

The two leapt away from the Gryffindor table just in time to be returned to dust. Kiru yawned widely, sleep threatening on the edge of her vision. She could hear Draco trying to get to her, but she couldn't seem able to reply. She knew it was him and his father next to her, so she let herself fall asleep in their more-than-capable care.

.o0O0o.

"Kiru-san," she heard a worried male.

"Reenervate," she heard another say, and her eyes struggled open. She shook her head slightly, furrowing her brow. Her head was on her place at the house table, her father's brow furrowed.

"Tha-!" she began, but a yawn cut her off. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Your body's tired, I understand entirely," the man said tartly. She sighed and turned away with a frown – she'd just made a bad impression on Draco's father. Well, she was screwed.

"Well, I most certainly don't blame you for getting kidnapped by Pettigrew more than a dozen times this school year and that prefect attacking you on an almost daily basis," Draco nodded emphatically, "Especially since she fired a killing curse at you in the Hospital wing this past time."

"What?" Lucius hissed, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, one of the ghosts jumped in the way, and Kiru somehow used her as a shield, so it just knocked her out for a few minutes," Draco said confused. "I thought it was normal since she was a necromancer, and all."

"No, Draco," Lucius corrected, "Potter is the only one that has survived it before."

"Hey, Mr. Malfoy," Goyle said innocently as he could. "Would you mind if Draco dated Kiru? I mean, they spend a lot of time together with their studies and all."

"Goyle, I help her with Defense Against the Dark Arts and she helps me with Potions," Draco objected loudly, but Lucius knew enough to know he was trying to deny anything.

"Well, if it were to escalate into something more than tutoring, I would prefer to have her father's permission first," Lucius said calmly. "However, I would not be objecting to it. We'll discuss this more in the summer, Draco. Severus tells me you can conjure a Patronus, Kiru. What is its form?"

"An ancient Japanese symbol," Kiru replied innocently, dodging any qualms from her fellow Slytherins. "It is said that a white snake symbolizes rebirth and renewal."

"I see," Lucius said, knowing by the look in her eyes that she was talking about Draco when she replied on the first part, the second being an act to stop rumors.

"Snape and Malfoy sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-ING!" the Weasleys began loudly, and the Gryffindors all rang out in approval, all of them soon joined in. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes death eater in baby carriage!"

"Why you-!" Kiru glared outraged. "That's it! _**Serpents, I know you're there! Scare these Gryffindor into submission once they get back to their homes for the summer! I want an avid report on your deeds when we come back for school next year!**_"

"My, my," Lucius smirked. "We are a hotheaded little one, aren't we?"

"Mum," Kiru huffed. "Dad's been teaching me to try to control it. But I _hate _it whenever someone teases me like that. It makes me want to cry."

"If it's all the same to you," Draco said quietly. "It makes me want to cry whenever you're crying."

"Hey, why don't you try a Patronus thing, Draco?" Pansy suggested, and he stared. "What, you don't know how? You're dad's right there!"

"Expecto Patronum," Lucius said calmly, and a fox burst out of the end of his wand. "Thing of the strongest happy memory you can, Draco, let it fill you, and cast the charm."

"If it's all the same to you, father, I'd rather not," Draco said calmly, his eyes panicking. "I've been working on it in the room of requirement, but I haven't gotten a full form out yet for very long."

"What were you thinking of?" Lucius asked, Kiru's eyes alight with curiosity and exhaustion.

"The first time I beat Potter at something," Draco said immediately. Lucius' smile widened, but he hid the fact that he knew his son's lie to appease him. He knew already that his son had been thinking of Kiru – they were destined to be together, inseparable, even. He didn't need Severus' Legimency for that.

"Liar," Kiru accused. "I know you better than that, Draco Malfoy. What were you thinking when you cast that charm?"

"Showing you to the owlrey," he whispered so quietly in her ear that she could barely understand him. Her eyes widened as she backed off and looked at him, and he nodded an affirmation.

"Draco," she said at last. "Maybe…maybe…Never mind."

Draco furrowed his brow, this wasn't like her. He'd squeeze it out of her later like he always did. She trusted him with her darkest secrets, ones that she felt fit to only share with him as either an older brother or a lover. Then again, she'd confided in the Potions Master as both the head of the House and her father, so that was a two-person road.

"I'm going to bed, if it's alright with you," Kiru said getting up at last. She looked at her watch – one in the morning, no wonder she was so tired! "I'd best head to bed so I don't get sick."

"Oyasumi," Draco said, wondering if he'd got it right.

"Nice job," Kiru appraised. "Oyasumi, Draco-san, Malfoy-sama. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Malfoy."

"You're going to end up marrying her," Lucius whispered to his son, who sprayed pumpkin juice all over Pansy Parkinson. "Don't deny it."

"Father," Draco said stunned, not knowing where to go with this subject.

* * *

Okay, so, um... yeah, everyone's partying, having a good time, and she gate-crashes. Sounds about right.

One, tiny review is all I beseech of thee, my dearest readers!


	9. The Grim's Evil Meanings

Okay, as you probably should know by now, nobody on this site owns Harry Potter unless they somehow have the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

_**"Parseltongue"**_

"Normal Talk"

_Thoughts/emphasis_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Kiru played the Prelude of Light, wondering what was in store for her. She yawned, having used up the last bit of her magic reserves for the day, and fell onto her bed into a deep, and very interesting sleep. Her dreams were by far the weirdest ones yet, but they fascinated her to no end.

Draco had just left his seventh year, and the Dark Lord had been vanquished. Harry was a hero, and Kiru was back to being ignored just like she liked it. Draco had caught her, and they'd gone off into the Forbidden Forest to be alone. He began kissing her passionately, and she could have sworn she was in heaven. She had just left her fifth year and was more than happy her O.W.L.'s were behind her. She'd aced potions, naturally – it was in her blood. Out of nowhere, the female prefect, Arachne appeared, shoving past Draco and performing the Imperius Curse on Kiru just before Obliviating Draco, Harry, and Snape from Kiru's memories. She swore to never enter the Forbidden Forest with Draco.

The dream shifted, and they were now out on the Quidditch pitch, Draco teaching her how to fly on a broomstick since she'd missed out on it during her first year. She'd missed out on a lot of the basics, and knew that her father would have to help her catch up during the summer. A bludger, having been cursed, was flying straight for her. Mellicent was in this dream, wielding a bat and beating the bludger away angrily. A second bludger was released, hitting Kiru's left arm and knocking her off her broom.

She would have woken up, but the dream shifted again. she was in the Slytherin sleeping quarters for the girls, lying in bed just as she should have been, when a cloaked figure slit her wrists and let her bleed out to death. The dreams just kept getting worse and worse, always ending with Kiru's deaths, but Draco was always absent during those dreams…

Finally, after more than a dozen death-defying dreams without him, he reappeared once more.

She and Draco were older, and there was a strange ring on her third left finger. She looked around, nothing looked familiar as of yet except for the home, the one that had once been her mother's. He was drinking coffee, and she was dishing out eggs onto his plate, her stomach looking eerily like a balloon. He smiled, kissed her, and rubbed her stomach gently. She suddenly realized what this meant, and audibly gasped. The prefect burst in angrily, using the Unforgivable curses to no end, finally killing Draco.

"NO!" she woke up screaming, covered in sweat and jerking upright. Mellicent Bullstrode, Pansy Parkinson, and two other strong and feared Slytherin girls had moved into her room with her to protect her at night. They awoke at the sound of her screaming, and were at her bedside in mere seconds.

"What happened?" Mellicent asked, and Kiru shook violently. "Kiru, what happened?"

"Daddy," she sobbed. "Daddy. Daddy."

"I think we need to get her to Professor Snape," Pansy said hesitantly, and Mellicent led her out of the Slytherin areas to the office of the Potions master.

He opened the door almost immediately and was, naturally, in black pajamas. His eyes narrowed at Kiru's terrified frame, her arms crossed in front of her in fear, her wand ready. He led her in, and immediately gave her a calming solution. Her panting lessened, but her shaking didn't. He nodded to the girls, and all but Mellicent left to go back to bed. The older girl had obviously begun looking to Kiru like a younger sister, and Kiru could tell Mellicent almost anything in complete confidence.

"Draco," Kiru sobbed, and the Potions Master's eyes snapped onto his daughter. "She tortured and killed him…Arachne tortured and killed him, dad…"

"Mellicent, go check on Draco," Snape ordered, and the older girl nodded before leaving his office. "Kiru, tell me what happened."

"I…I was pregnant, and out of nowhere, Arachne tortured him with…with…with the unforgivable curse. Draco was writhing, begging her not to hurt me. she used it on me, and I felt an intense amount of pain, and something inside me broke. Draco cried out in pain or shock, and he placed himself in harm's way. She…she killed him, dad…she killed him like you-know-who killed the Potters…"

"Shh, it's just a dream," Snape soothed, holding his daughter and hoping it was the truth. "Draco's fine, I'm sure."

"Professor?" Mellicent and Draco asked confused as they returned. Kiru's eyes widened, and she tackled Draco into a fierce hug, even though she was still shaking like a madman. Snape sighed heavily through his nose, his last bout of patience almost spent.

"Draco, did you hear her playing her Ocarina?" Snape asked, and the young Malfoy shook his head while Mellicent nodded. She twiddled the tune, and the weary parent rubbed his eyes. "Of course – the Prelude of Light. The _one _song that would show you the future for Kami knows why, and you wind up making it hell, Kiru. Honestly, what will it do to make sure your life doesn't end up like mine?"

"Arachne," she sobbed. "It was all her fault. She kept killing me, she kept killing me. She kept killing me after killing him."

"Him?" Draco asked, but Snape wasn't about to answer that. He could see hurt in the young Malfoy's eyes, and leered to spell out what he was saying.

"Think, Malfoy," Mellicent huffed. "The Prelude of Light shows the future, or possibilities that it holds, as Professor Snape just told us."

"Oh, and you think that I'm the one from her nightmares," Draco realized and the other Slytherin nodded. Snape shut his eyes tightly before taking a look at his clock.

"Draco, Mellicent, go back to bed. I'll handle Kiru," he said in a tone that left no room for argument.

The next morning was extremely confusing for the Golden Trio. They were glaring up at Snape, who seemed dangerously close to nodding off over breakfast. Ron, of course, was laughing about it, while Harry was trying to think of a plot that the Potions Master could be up to and Hermione was talking to Ginny to see if Kiru was alright.

"I hear that Kiru woke up screaming last night after only a couple hours of sleep," Ginny said quietly. "I heard one of the Slytherin girls whining about how loud she had screamed and making it so nobody else could sleep after that for fear that the prefect girl was on the loose again."

"Fow'v Fe gefph away?" Ron asked, and the two girls shook their heads.

"I don't know how the prefect, Arachne, I think her name is, got away. Nobody does. I do know this, though, something's gone really wrong in Kiru's brain from what happened with her mother, and now Snape's having to deal with the consequences," Harry grinned widely before the Snape duo made eye contact.

The Slytherin head was exhausted, running off only two hours of sleep for the past two days total, and was missing out on more than three hours of sleep a night for the previous week because of grading finals. So, yes, he was more than exhausted. If it hadn't been for his being on his third cup of coffee by six, he would have given Weasley, Potter, and Granger detention for being idiots and waking up too damn early.

He locked eyes with his princess, who was clinging onto Draco for dear life, looking wide-eyed at everything around her, terrified. Lucius was still here, and eyeing the girl warily and dangerously until his son had explained that Kiru was running off little sleep and had had nightmares the whole time. Then the Death Eater had backed off, and looked at her with what seemed to almost be sympathy.

Snape could have sworn that Potter and Granger were up to something as his eyes snapped overhead for the mail to arrive. Owls were swooping every which way, and strangely, more than one was for Potter. One, of course, carried what he knew could only be another broom since his Nimbus Two Thousand had smashed into the Whomping Willow. The other, carried a large letter with the Ministry of Magic's seal. He grinned in delight, he couldn't help it at the sight of Potter's shocked face at the letter.

Kiru had also gotten mail, for once, and was cringing away from it for some strange reason. He then realized what it was and covered his ears just as Lucius Malfoy did. Just as Kiru and Draco did the same, the Howler exploded with a voice that shook all the dust from the roof of the Great Hall. He recognized the voice anywhere, even when magnified by one hundred – it was Bellatrix Lestrange's, who had attempted to court him. She'd been furious when he'd said no and gone to Sarabella, and apparently decided to take her wrath out on the deceaced one's daughter.

"DON'T KNOW WHY I EVEN BOTHERED! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SEEN, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN BITTEN BY A WEREWOLF! BUT, NO, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THAT USELESS MUDBLOOD BITCH'S BLOOD RUNNING THROUGH YOUR VEINS ALONG WITH THE BLOOD OF THE ONLY ONE SECOND TO THE DARK LORD!"

The entire Great Hall had their heads down, some even looking around for the source of the Howler until they finally figured out that it was a teacher's kid who'd gotten it. The Slytherin house, on the other hand, knew _exactly _who had gotten it once Snape's name was mentioned.

"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A WORTHLESS PIECE OF MONSTER FILTH, JUST LIKE YOUR FREAK MOTHER! AND AS FOR _YOU, _SEVERUS SNAPE!" the voice screamed as the letter turned onto him. "YOU KEEP YOUR BASTARD DAUGHTER IN LINE OR I WILL PERSONALLY HUNT YOU TWO DOWN, TORTURE HER LIKE I DID THE LONGBOTTOMS, AND SHIP HER OFF TO ST. MUNGO'S IN A MATCHBOX IF I'M IN A GOOD MOOD THAT DAY! AND DON'T EVEN BOTHER TRYING TO STOP ME, OR I'LL TORTURE YOU ALONGSIDE HER!"

Snape's once exhausted frame was now on edge, eyes wide, staring unblinkingly at the Howler. He finally remembered how to breathe and blink when Lupin nudged him with an elbow. Snape shuddered, the horrifying thought of his daughter stuck like Frank and Alice Longbottom entering his mind, and left the Great Hall to go puke. Bellatrix was trouble, huge trouble, especially when angry like that. Potter was also leaving the Great Hall, just for a different reason.

"Professor," the third year said once he had left the bathrooms to go to his office, and Snape swerved around, his face a mask of what Harry thought was rage, but was in fact disgust. It was the first time Potter dared approach him, or any non-Slytherin for that matter. "Professor, what – how – who was that?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Snape said sourly. "A selfish bitch who tried to court me, and I'm quite glad I didn't since she wound up in Azkaban for – well, you know. Of for the love of pete, Potter, you just heard her screaming about it. Use your head."

"Sir, I'm sorry," Harry said quickly, his eyes filling up with tears. The two stood in silence for a bit, both of them having epiphanies before Snape finally broke the silence.

"Potter, if this isn't about Potions or Kiru, then I don't want to hear it," Snape growled, trying to put his epiphany into action.

"Sir, he's gone," Harry sobbed. "Sirius is in St. Mungo's. He was found the – the dark mark was over him. I – I have nowhere else to go. Professor Lupin is a werewolf, and Mrs. Weasley has more than enough mouths to feed, I don't want to be a burden on her. I – mom said that you and her were friends. I-I don't want to go back to the Dursleys…"

"Your father loved nothing more than to make me suffer," Snape said coldly as he swept back into the dungeons. "But, I will consider what you're asking. For Lily."

.o0O0o.

"Harry!" Molly Weasley gasped as she arrived at the school alongside a number of aurors.

After what the Slytherin Prefect had done and gotten away, the aurors were patrolling the castle, more than one in the dungeons, and one even remaining in the Slytherin common room for good measure. Kiru was more than happy Tonks was back, and had grasped her tightly around the midriff. The auror laughed, and Kiru went back to eating with a lot more peace of mind now that an auror was going to follow her almost everywhere to keep her safe. The Howler was still fresh on her mind, but she decided to tell the auror later since Mr. Malfoy knew about it firsthand. She didn't even know who that crazy woman was who'd been screaming in the letter – all she knew was that the woman hated her for what her mother did.

Kiru noted that the small red haired woman was smacking Ron upside the head, and that she was doting on Harry. She also noted that her father had left the Great Hall. Wait – left? She panicked, grabbing her things in a frenzy before Draco put his hand on her back. Kiru cringed, sitting down like she'd been electrocuted. The way things were playing out during her first year – she hoped her second was better. The teachers had postponed her finals until the end of July so she could catch up on all her studies that she'd missed during the spring months. Unfortunately, this meant that she only had a month for a vacation instead of three like the others did.

"Draco, who's the redhead?" Kiru asked hesitantly, and Lucius smirked.

"That, Kiru, is Molly Weasley. She's a blood traitor, and her husband loves anything Muggle related. I think the lunatic should simply snap his wand and join them," Lucius sneered. Kiru thought about it, then realized something. Molly Weasley – Ginny had said that she had six older brothers. This woman was probably struggling to make ends meet for the longest time until her children went off to Hogwarts.

"Mr. Malfoy, what do the Weasley's _do _for a living," Kiru asked. "How do they make ends meet to feed nine mouths?"

"Arthur, the father, works at the ministry of magic. Molly wields no jobs, and the two elder Weasley sons are in various parts of the world on their own. Percy is over there, the head boy," he explained.

"Bighead boy more like it," Draco whined. "He thinks he's so much better than anyone else. The only reason he hasn't sunk his fangs into you is because your dad could attack his potions grade. That's the only reason anyone from most of the other houses gives you any respect at all."

"I love my dad," Kiru grinned widely. "But I miss my mom, even if she was violent. I wonder what Potter's letter said over breakfast."

Snape yawned as he walked into the dungeons. He was tired, but he had a job to do. He'd just have them writing essays in class instead of brewing potions. He trusted the Slytherins to keep an eye on things, especially since Lucius had joined him in the dungeons for the day.

Lucius Malfoy grinned widely. Snape had left an essay topic on the board, letting them know what on earth they were to write about. About ten minutes into the second years' writings, Severus was fast asleep and more than relaxed, even though his head was asleep on his desk. The poor man deserved a little more time off than that, especially since his daughter was mentally ill from everything that had happened.

"Quiet, Weasley," he snapped, and Ginny shut her mouth immediately.

When the bell was about to ring for class to end, he gently shook Severus' shoulder, who instantly snapped awake, albeit very groggy and tired still. He smirked as the raven-haired man shook his head to clear it, and they watched the students file up to hand their essays in. He'd have the NEWT students grade it for their work for the day, Lucius knew. Not only would it get the work off their backs, but also less paperwork. Still, he'd have to go over it just to be sure, as one could never be too safe around students. The bell sounded, and the second years filed out to be replaced by the third years.

"I was wondering where you'd gone," Draco grinned as he caught sight of his father, and a slight amount of bedhead from his favorite teacher. Lucius had grinned that Severus had put his hair up for once to keep it from giving him bedhead. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine," Severus snapped. "Potter, come here."

The Gryffindor boy complied, handing the Potions Master the letter that he'd received. Snape gawked and had to reread the letter to properly understand it. Ariadne Arachne, the girl who'd attacked his daughter, had ruthlessly tortured Black with the Crutiatus Curse just as Bellatrix had the Longbottoms. This left Harry with no other options but the Dursleys, which were mentioned to be missing, presumed dead, with one exception, in the second letter. Harry stared at the board, furrowing his brow, and Severus waved his wand to give the Third years a potion to brew. He was tired, yes, but these letters had woke him up. He needed more coffee, though.

"Potter, go to the kitchens and get me some more coffee," Snape ordered, and Harry headed off. "And don't even think about cutting class. I'll know."

"Yes, sir," Harry said glumly as he left. Twenty minutes later, he returned with the exact brew that Severus loved, still piping hot.

"You know what to do," Snape ordered, and Harry took his papers back from the Professor and headed to his seat to begin. Snape drank the entire mug of coffee without even stopping for a breather, and waved his wand to refill it, only to empty it in a like manner.

"Still tired, Severus?" Lucius smirked.

"You have no idea," Snape sighed. "Try running off of two hours of sleep for three days. It's hell."

"Technically, it was three hours since I kept an eye on the dunderheads for you last class," Lucius reminded, and Snape grinned.

"True," he conceded. "And I thank you for that since I very much needed it. Kiru was impossible last night – I swear, one day I'll have to create a potion that stops traumatizing memories from resurfacing."

"The dreamless sleep potion didn't work?" Lucius asked, furrowing his brow.

"No, she woke up screaming her lungs off. Woke up everyone in the Slytherin house," Snape sighed. "If you don't believe me, ask Draco. He and Mellicent escorted Kiru to my office to help calm her down. All she would say was the prefect's name."

"Interesting," Lucius said as he eyed his son, who bent further over his cauldron to avoid eye contact with the two death eaters. "I'm wondering, Severus, and I think you know what I'm talking about."

"Ah. Hm, not a bad idea, I admit. I suppose opposites really do attract," Snape grinned. "Look at Granger and Weasley – she is the only one in Gryffindor who can manage a decent grade on anything I assign, while he is a complete idiot who can't make a decent grade on any of his papers without her help."

Hermione blushed slightly at the praise, and Harry almost put a wrong ingredient in before Snape stopped him to push the correct one in and move on without a word to him. He eyed the boy, wondering what to do further. Potter's aunt and uncle were supposedly dead, while his cousin lived. Black was alive as well, but would be in St. Mungo's permanently. The boy had nowhere to go, but if he took them in it would spell disaster for them all. Kiru and Potter would get along, but the muggle was just going too far. Snape frowned at a thought.

He _could _leave Spinner's End and join Harry and the muggle at their house. The two boys would have to share a room and Kiru get the second bedroom, but it was a horrid idea. He _hated _muggles, and most especially the older sister that hated him for being a 'freak' like Lily. He reckoned the old horse had treated Potter with equal disdain, and likely let her husband and son abuse him as she saw fit. No wonder Potter ended up breaking rules – he was under far too many under his own roof, he had no choice but to do so at home to survive.

He caught Potter, yet again, making a careless mistake, and corrected the boy once more. He watched, and saw why the boy was making so many mistakes – he was crying. Snape sighed, let Potter add a wrong ingredient. The potion exploded right in Harry's face, and a piece of the cauldron broke off and sliced Harry's arm clean through.

"Lucius, keep an eye on things," Snape said suddenly as the ensuing chaos was immediately quieted by Harry's piercing screams of pain. The blonde looked at him as though he'd lost his mind before eyeing the young Gryffindor. "I'm taking Potter to the hospital wing. Someone has to do it, and I'd rather it was me so I don't get fired. Weasley, you're in charge of cleaning up the mess Potter made."

"Thank you, sir," Potter said quietly, packing his things and heading out with his head down.

"Don't mention it," Snape said equally as low as he followed the boy out. "What makes you think we're going straight there? No, my office is first, Potter."

Harry swallowed, terrified. Snape's office was to be avoided by everyone but his daughter, and the whole school knew that if you were in Snape's office, you weren't getting out without a serious punishment. He reluctantly followed in, the door shutting quietly behind him. Snape almost yanked out the cauldron fragment, sighing in disgust as he pulled up the sleeve that he tore to get a better look at the wound to see how bad it was.

"Damn, boy," he murmured. It had gone in one side of Harry's arm and out the other. "Potter, how objective are you of staying with your cousin?"

"Very, sir," Harry sniffed. "He hates me, and loves nothing more than to pick on me and beat me up."

"Your mother and I were good friends in school, Potter. She reminded me of that last night, and even James approached me. It was strange, and I swear he was drunk when he apologized for being a pain in my ass," Snape explained, and Harry's eyes widened. Snape and his mother had been friends? But Snape hated him – it must have been because of his father.

"Dad saved you," Harry said. "Dumbledore said you owed him a life debt."

"Which I repaid when I saved you from falling off your broom in your first year," Snape retorted, putting a rag under Harry's bleeding arm. "Lily also reminded me that the wards that protect you from the Dark Lord are only available if a blood relative is under the same room as you."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but shut it at the look on Snape's exhausted face. He looked over at Snape's bed – barely slept in, by the looks of it. The poor man was probably running off the caffeine he'd been told to fetch.

"You have no say in the matter, Potter," Snape snapped as he led Harry up to the Hospital Wing. "Poppy, his cauldron exploded before I could get to him. I brought him here since it's your area of expertise."

"A wise choice," the medical witch said gruffly. "The boy's bones have been severed. I'll need you to take the fragment out while I hold his arm in place."

Snape nodded, and the two worked together carefully to get the cauldron slice out. Harry let out silent tears and said nothing as they worked, barely wincing. Madame Pomfrey and Snape recognized a student from a violent home whenever they saw one – Severus had been one himself, and Madame Pomfrey had been around for years. Snape took Harry's arm in his hand when he put the cauldron piece on the desk, and with a few waves of Madame Pomfrey's wand, Harry's bones were back together and his arm was in stitches. She wrapped the gauze around his arm, putting it in a sling delicately. Just as they got back into the dungeons with the rest of the class, and Harry waved his wand to fix his cauldron, the bell rang to go to lunch.

"Potter," Snape yelled, and Harry went up to his desk, expecting a full lecture. Snape led Harry throughout the school, and Dumbledore looked morosely at them as they ran into him in the hallway. One look on Harry's face, and the headmaster knew that something had gone very, very wrong, aside from the sling and the fact that Severus was actually leading him in that direction.

"Severus, Harry, what do I owe this great pleasure of the two of you getting along?" Dumbledore smiled widely. If he thought they were getting along any better because of last night's events, he was wrong.

"Headmaster, it seems that Potter's legal guardians are missing and presumed dead, his godfather is permanently in St. Mungo's, and he and his cousin have nowhere to go," Snape summed up. Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly as he frowned, pulling on his beard as he was lost in thought.

"Sir, if it's alright with you, I'd like to stay _away _from my cousin," Harry said quickly to the headmaster.

"I'm afraid not, Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "I need him for a spell to work since he is your only remaining blood relative."

"But," Harry protested, but stopped at Snape's evil looks. Dumbledore led them into his office, rummaging around on his desk for something.

"Ah, here it is. Adoption papers," Dumbledore smiled, and Snape's eyes widened. "Come now, Severus, Minerva is too old, and you have a daughter that's his age. Besides, Lily would have rather you took care of him than for him to go into an orphanage. Him and young Mr. Dursley."

"Potter _and_ the muggle? Headmaster, I don't have room for four at my house," Snape protested. "I have rooms for two, and one of them was already set up for Kiru! Potter's pushing it, but the _muggle_ – forget it!"

"Peace, Severus, I know," Dumbledore said calmly, his eyes twinkling. "That's why I was thinking of you and Kiru moving in with young Mr. Potter and Mr. Dursley."

"I'd rather die or stay with Snape than stay one more minute with Dudley," Harry growled quietly.

"How ironic, I felt the same way about your father," Snape retorted. "But, you prefer me over your cousin? Now, this is interesting. I could hex you into oblivion, and you still fear him more than me? You, young Potter, should get docked points for that insult."

"Compliment, sir," Harry said roughly. "Dudley's a spoiled brat who joined Uncle Vernon's fun in tormenting me on a daily basis for the sole reasons of entertainment and my being a wizard."

"Come now, Severus, let's discuss matters after lunch, there's a new tart I wanted to taste," Dumbledore said simply, and the trio headed down to lunch, Harry faster than the others.

"Headmaster," Snape said quietly, but Dumbledore cut him off.

"Severus, I know you don't like the idea, but you're the only one I can trust. Minerva is too old, the others aren't able to tell when Voldemort is nearby, and you are most likely the only person who could look after them without a problem," Dumbledore said calmly. "Peace, Severus. I will help you financially should you need it."

"Fine," Snape grumbled. "But I won't like a single minute of this."

* * *

Yes, Snape's now Harry's adopted dad. Making Harry and Kiru step-siblings of sorts.

Please, please review! Please!


	10. Home Sweet – Privet Drive?

Chapter Nine – Home Sweet – Privet Drive?

Harry sighed as he got on the Hogwarts Express. He had no home, Dudley was probably in an orphanage, or with Marge, and he'd be joining him wherever he went. Dumbledore would make sure of that, and he'd rather live with Snape than stay with Dudley any longer. That was saying something, he knew, since Ron and Hermione's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he'd said that fact out loud. Ron and Hermione were bickering over who would take him in, each insisting that their parents were more capable of doing so. He sighed, putting his head on the window.

Kiru was doing in a like manner, and Snape was nowhere to be seen. Mellicent Bullstrode, Draco Malfoy, and Luna Lovegood were all in the car with her, as well as Auror Tonks for good measure. She wanted her dad, and managed to doze off only to have another nightmare. She growled in frustration, and Draco thought of something.

"You know, I heard you play the Prelude of Light, but I never heard you play Hime's song afterwards," he said calmly. Her eyes widened – of course! These nightmares must have been visions of possible futures, and the prefect was ruining them! She whipped out her Ocarina and played Hime's song, nodding off as she finished.

"Wotcher," Tonks said hesitantly as she held Kiru off of Malfoy, who had grabbed the Ocarina to keep it from falling onto the floor. He sat up, and Tonks removed her arms. "Nice job, kid. Maybe now the girl can finally get some well-earned rest."

As the train pulled into the station, Harry frowned – he could already hear Dudley yelling loudly. He sighed, letting everyone else go ahead of him. He wanted to spend as long as he could without his cousin until he had no choice but to leave. He got up, and headed over to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were hugging him tightly, apologizing for his loss. Bill and Charlie were there, too, now, and the four Weasley students joined them with their luggage, as well as Hermione.

"I'm telling you, Ron, I'm sure he'd rather stay with whoever he chooses," Hermione insisted with a huff.

"Hermione, dear, we're more than happy to let Harry into our home," Molly said, but whatever the others were about to say was cut off.

"That won't be necessary, Molly, Arthur," Snape said coldly. "Potter will be living with Kiru and me until further notice. He _and _his cousin, and before you even start, Potter, it was the headmaster's idea, not mine."

Harry swallowed fearfully, and everybody looked at him in sympathy. They all knew Snape's reputation, but when Dumbledore got an idea like that, it was better to roll with the flow since he always had a reason for his madness. Harry sighed heavily, and swore he heard Dudley screaming angrily as Snape smirked widely.

"Sir," Harry said furrowing his brow, "Where's Dudley?"

"The whale you have to call a cousin, you mean?" Kiru asked as she approached. "I left him back just now. Kami, I can understand why you hate him – I wanted to punch his lights out just by looking at him. But don't worry, I've got some excellent ideas in mind for the summer if he gets any bright ideas in that pea-brain of his."

"Kiru," Snape said darkly. "That can wait."

Kiru began looking around as the Weasley's argued amongst themselves over who got to borrow Errol or Pigwidgon first. She glanced around, her head jerking at any sign of a prefect.

"What's her problem?" she heard Bill and Charlie ask Ginny, who explained the whole rogue-prefect fiasco.

"Kiru, that's enough, she won't attack with me next to you," Snape snapped.

"Yes, father," Kiru said relaxing into her father's side, gripping his left arm tightly. Bill and Charlie's eyes ballooned, and Kiru grinned. "It's rude to stare, you know. You two look like oversized goldfish."

"Don't even think about it," Snape snapped with a smirk, knowing what she was thinking. McGonagall's specialty, transfiguration.

"Oh, but it's so fun," Kiru whined with a wide grin. They looked over their shoulders and sighed in disgust. "We have to house the whale, don't we?" Snape nodded. "Fine. But only if I get Potions lessons in the evenings!"

"I would have done so anyways," Snape retorted. "I can't have my little _Hime _falling behind and letting her talents go to waste, now can I?"

"Save me," Harry mouthed as Kiru drug him off after the Potions Master and towards Dudley.

Ron and Hermione gaped at Harry's back with awe and horror at Snape's announcement and Harry's misfortune. Harry knew it was coming, but he didn't like it. Ron knew firsthand the horrors of Harry's cousin, but for Harry to put up with his cousin and Professor Snape at the same time was absurd, in his opinion. The rest of the Weasleys, with the exception of Molly and Arthur, wholeheartedly agreed. Molly had remained neutral and wanted to see how things played out, while Arthur was sure that Snape would scare Dudley into being a perfect little prince.

Draco Malfoy raced halfway up to Kiru, before dashing back to his father's side embarrassed. Ron had gotten a good laugh out of that one until Malfoy sneered a comment about blood status as he passed. Kiru would have been proud, Draco knew, but was apprehensive about his father's opinion of the first year potions princess. She was every bit as talented as her father, Lucius smirked, and he was teaching her _extremely_ well. Given time, she could even be better than Potter, perhaps even good enough to become a Death eater, although he would never have wished anything upon Draco. Thus, with that mindset, he told himself he didn't want Kiru to join the Death Eaters and be on the Azkaban list.

Kiru, Harry, and Dudley started fighting long before they got home. Snape was at his wit's end trying to tune them out, and finally ended up yelling at them to shut their mouths. Thankfully for his migraine, they spent the rest of the knight bus ride in silence as they turned onto Privet Drive. A vacant house had suddenly become available, and Snape glared at the number before almost letting out a sigh of relief – it wasn't the one Potter was due for. Rather, it was across the street, and an odd looking woman was moving in as well. She reminded him eerily of Lily somehow, and it drove him mad just watching her.

Snape and Kiru looked around the house. Dudley was eating the food in the kitchen, and Snape was _not _happy at all. He yanked the food away from the boy, and pushed it across to Harry. Rapping the larger boy on the back of the head, he went on to lecture the boy about how Harry was treated, why it was wrong, why he was here, and that he was now their legal guardian and was now in charge of them.

The three youth paid close attention to the rules that Severus Snape laid out, two knowing he was strict and one fast learning this fact. 1) No going into another's room without their permission unless you shared it with them, and the Potions Lab was on permission-base only. Not that Harry would ever go down there, but Dudley might… 2) Do what I say when I say it – No exceptions unless fatal otherwise. 3) Maintain healthy lifestyle and good grades. 4) no using each other for target practice unless practicing magic. 5) obey any rule I make, even on the spot.

Harry snorted at rule one since he didn't care about a potions lab, but Kiru scowled. It was Harry's turn to scowl at rule two, and Dudley didn't care. Dudley had openly protested at rule three, to which Severus immediately shut him up with a harsh glare. Harry had beamed at rule four since it meant that Dudley couldn't use him for target practice ever again. Rule five had been absurd, Snape knew, but it had to be set in place for the boys since they were dunderheads. Harry was malnourished, still, and Dudley could stand to lose a few dozen pounds. Kiru, meanwhile, could use to _gain _a few pounds. Oh, he was in for a very long summer he knew. He didn't want anything to do with these blubbering dunderheads, but he _had _promised to help keep Lily's child safe, and so now he was. He hated it.

As soon as they got inside the home, Harry and Dudley began fighting immediately over who got which bedroom, to which Kiru could see a little tick mark above her father's head. One glare from him, however, and they were immediately quiet, to which he explained the sleeping arrangements. Dudley would sleep under the stairs, Harry would get the room Dudley had formerly slept in, Kiru would get the second bedroom, and he got the master bedroom. Dudley stood agape, and Harry delighted at this news in their change of living space.

Within hours of dawn, the doorbell rang, to which Kiru opened it up with Severus leering nearby ready to hex someone at a moment's notice. It was the woman from across the street, who was apparently new to the town, and the country as well.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something," she said shyly. "I was wondering if I could meet you all. I'm new here, and don't know anyone, you see."

Snape knew what it was like to be outcast by everyone, so he grudgingly nodded an ascent. He knocked on Harry's door and stomped angrily above Dudley's new crawl space, to which Harry was delighted. The potions master raised an eyebrow, and Harry thought it out to his new guardian. _You're doing to Dudley exactly what he used to do to me before my first year. I even slept down there, and there were dozens of spiders and other whatnot. Uncle Vernon would have a fit if he knew what was going on. Oh, life's good._

"I'm so sorry," the woman said quickly. "I'm Chessie Hotai, my parents just recently started working at a local hospital."

"Severus Snape," the potions master said coolly. "I'm a teacher at a private school for troubled or orphaned children. These are Dudley, and Harry, my adopted…sons, for lack of a better word. This is Kiru, my daughter."

"It's nice to meet you all," Chessie said shyly. "I'm jobless, as of yet, but I'm hoping to become a medic at a world-renowned hospital. What do you teach, Mr. Snape?"

"Chemistry," Snape said, giving Harry a look that said to keep his mouth shut. "Which hospital? I have a few contacts, so I might be able to help." _Or hinder, if you annoy me. _

"I doubt you've heard of it. St. Mungo's," Chessie replied.

"For Magical Maladies and injuries?" Snape chided, and her eyes widened. "Yes, I'm a wizard. Dursley, here, is the only one who isn't. The only reason I took him in was to keep Harry safe."

"I suspected you were Harry Potter," she grinned to him. "But I wasn't sure if you were living with a muggle or not. So, you teach Potions at Hogwarts, then, I assume, Mr. Snape?"

"Professor," he corrected with a smirk. "I just got into the neighborhood a few hours ago, myself, however. Dursley or Potter would be better for that advice, although I daresay the latter would be on better terms with the neighbors."

"Professor," Dudley whimpered, and Snape shot him a glare. "Am I the only one in the house who's like my mum and dad?"

"Dead, you mean?" Kiru grinned, and Harry couldn't help but snicker and hold back laughter. Snape gave her a look before turning his gaze back to Dudley and nodding curtly.

"So, that means all of you are fr-"

"I wouldn't finish that if I were you," Chessie glared at the muggle. "I've had enough of the f-r word for one lifetime. I swear my cousin is such a brat. I'm muggle-born, you see, and she was jealous when I got my letter. I knew there was no chance of joining since she was older than me."

"How interesting," Snape murmured. "That reminds me of an old friend of mine whose sister owned this house before I moved here…"

"Wait, you knew the freak's mum?" Dudley asked, before realizing his big mistake.

Kiru lunged at his throat, Harry not even bothering to do anything, and Snape was struggling to the small Slytherin off of him to keep from killing him. Harry saw the angry look on Snape's face and immediately ran to his bedroom to lock the wizard – and Dudley – out. Kiru, however, was still boiling mad and screaming in Parseltongue, to which Chessie was sitting there shocked as Severus summoned a snake or two with a flick of his wand and shoved her out the door to go to her room. He followed, casting a ward to keep her there to contemplate her actions, and wasn't at all surprised to find Dudley trying to get an extra meal in.

He grabbed the whale by the scruff, leading him out, and pushing him into the cupboard, locking it and warding it as well. He growled in disgust and headed into the kitchen, sending a patronus up to let Harry know he was safe. The Gryffindor snuck in, terrified of the Potion's Master's wrath, and sat down silently at the table. Every so often the adults would talk to him, and it was a nice change from his usual summer lifestyle to be with Snape, he discovered. Weird, but good – the Potions Master was ignoring him almost, but this new witch was very warm and welcoming. He felt like he was at home with her somehow. He did notice, however, that his professor kept applying pressure to the bridge of his nose as though to calm himself down.

"What school did you go to?" Harry asked them, and Snape frowned.

"Hogwarts, Slytherin house," the black-clad wizard said, while Chessie's eyebrows shot up. "You?"

"Hogwarts," she replied. "My parents insisted upon the best education for me, and begged Professor Dumbledore to let me learn there. I was in Slytherin. You were once friends with Lily Evans, if I recall correctly from the gossip around. It's a pity she died – although I won't deny that Potter boy was a selfish git from all the detention slips I saw him get. He should have gotten detention for all those times he took that poor bloke's trousers off, no matter how amusing everyone else thought it was, even years later. I'm surprised the boy doesn't have mental scarring, truth be told. And Potter was a horrible rule breaker! And he strut around the school like he owned the place, just because he became Quidditch Captain in his third year, and his friend, Lupin, was a prefect in their fifth! If you ask me, I'd say that Lily did him a favor in deflating his head a bit, but she should've done so a lot sooner and better!"

"I never thought I'd be saying this to a woman," Snape said appalled. "But I wholeheartedly agree. As for the poor bloke – you're looking at him."

"That was you?" Chessie gasped. "Oh, Kami, I'm so, so, so sorry! I meant no disrespect, Snape-san – er, Professor!"

"None taken," he muttered so that she barely caught it, and his lips barely moved. Harry was none the wiser, and stayed that way. "What I wouldn't _give _for a day off away from that whale you have to call a cousin."

"You just got him," Harry grinned. "Are you saying that you hate him already?"

"He reminds me more of your father than you do," Snape said tartly, and Harry's eyes widened. If the cruel man meant what he said, Dudley was in _huge _trouble. "If Dumbledore didn't need him alive, I'd be shipping him off to an orphanage or – better yet – driving him mad or – if it were only legal… There's a novel idea. Potter, how would you like a little payback at your cousin?"

"Sir?" Harry asked appalled, not knowing what was going on. "I'd like that, but does this mean you'll be using me for revenge on my father?"

"Unfortunately, no," Snape frowned. "You remember what would give your Uncle a heart attack, yes? I'm thinking of putting that into action."

"Huh?" Harry asked confused, then realized what Snape was talking about. "Oh, the old Switcheroo. I must admit, Professor; that is ingenious and very tempting. I want no part in it but to watch contentedly."

"I'm glad you like it," Snape sneered evilly. "I'm sure the headmaster won't, though. But, then again, who am I to care about a brat muggle who cannot tell Auror from Death Eater?"

"Professor," Chessie gasped in shock, realizing what they were up to. "I want it to be known that, as desperately as I want to deny any part of this, I can't help but join. Sign me up – what do I need to do to help?"

Snape's sneer turned into a full blown grin, which scared the living daylights out of Harry, but the Potions master took great pride in telling them of his plans for the obese boy. He recognized her vaguely as one of the Slytherin students that were there when he started teaching, but was in her fifth year, and hadn't taken potions for their NEWTs. He hadn't paid much attention that year because he had been too terrified of getting caught as a Death Eater, and was also uncaring as long as the students didn't blow their cauldrons up. Needless to say, he'd come in at Christmas to take the post from Horace Slughorn, his own Potions teacher, who'd retired and flat out left over the Christmas Break for no reason whatsoever. Who'd have thought he'd wind up living across the street from one of his own students, and a different one in his house? What was wrong with these Muggles? To make it worse, a squib lived down the road!

He couldn't wait to get his fingers around Albus' throat and wring the headmaster to his senses.


	11. Silence and Silencers

Chapter Ten – Silence and Silencers

Harry and Kiru received their first letters from Ron and Draco Malfoy, respectively, a few days later. Chessie and Snape were eagerly talking about their different strong points and weaknesses with magics, including the fact that Chessie was an excellent medical witch and wonderful with the wand, while helpless and senseless at potions. Severus was excellent at dueling, having come to duel all four Marauders at once on a very frequent basis, and was, of course, proud of his Potions Master title.

Harry, ecstatic, immediately wrote Ron a reply, an exact copy to Hermione, and was even tempted to write Malfoy a copy...

_Ron,_

_Life's gone surprisingly well living with Professor Snape, and before you drop this letter, let me explain. I was tormented, as you know, by Dudley, my cousin. Well, Snape put a stop to it, for reason I have yet to fathom, and seems intent on tormenting Dudley in the exact ways that Dudley tormented me before my first year. I admit, the Professor took us to the zoo a few days ago, and Dudley flat out refused to go into the reptile house until Snape reminded him of the house rule number two he would be breaking (do as I say when I say it). _

_Life's not all that bad – we got a new neighbor, a Chessie Hotai, who seems to have taken an interest in our Professor (although he'd deny every scrap of this). I've been staying at her house during the days since the Professor wants me nowhere _near _the potions, and there's just nothing to do at the park. I have been relieved of my house duties now, and it is now _Dudley _who is doing them, believe it or not. Kiru is acting a lot like Hermione now that she has to catch up on a whole semester, and Miss Hotai has even started helping our first year with her transfiguration and charms classes. Professor Snape is tutoring Kiru in DADA, and Potions, of course. I have yet to see what else happens, but I do know this much – I get to watch TV and be a normal muggle for once! I never thought I'd see the day when I could be as lazy as I wanted, most especially with Snape and/or Dudley around!_

_I've got Dudley's old room, and Kiru got the second bedroom. Dudley sleeps under the stairs now, just like I used to, and Snape insists on treating him like the dirt he walks on (not that I'm complaining since Dudley's an overweight jerk). For once, Snape and I are seeing eye to eye, and we have yet to argue over the course of this summer vacation and what to do with it. By good luck, Chessie is a witch who was also from Slytherin. She apparently knew my mom, and as did Snape, but the strange part is that they both hated my dad and didn't even know each other existed till Miss Hotai showed up on Privet Drive. _

_Well, the summer hasn't been a complete fiasco. I got to see Dudley wet himself on that zoo trip, not to mention that he's actually being starved by Professor Snape, albeit he is being given a nourishment potion to help him stay alive. I'm honestly shocked – the starvation is actually helping him lose weight, but not very much. Miss Chessie is very kind and openhearted about us living with Snape, and flat out refuses to discuss the "charitable cause" that he's doing. Yeah, I can see you snorting at that last part, Ron, don't deny it. I can almost see you all gasping in shock that me and Snape haven't gone at each other's throats yet. I've been trying to think of a few cruel pranks to play on Dudley, and for some strange reason, Snape keeps helping me with that, although I'd appreciate a little more help from the twins, just to rattle his nerves a bit. You'll have to be discreet about it, though. I can't wait to scare Dudley into crapping bricks, it's going to be great! Strangely, though, I can't see either of the two Snape family laughing at his misfortune, and we both know how much the Professor loves misfortune. You know, I'm tempted to scare Malfoy and write him a copy of this letter… tell me what you think of the idea. I'll keep you updated on the Snape duo and my cousin._

_Harry_

Harry gave the letters to Pigwidgon and Hedwig and sent them off. Kiru smiled at the thought of using the Malfoy's owl, and quickly wrote a reply of her own. Harry knew better than to eavesdrop or to look over her shoulder, but she was kind enough to tell him a few things she'd included in her letter, most especially their trip to the zoo, to which they had to stop and hold their stomachs from laughing too hard. When they finished laughing, she returned to the letter writing. She scrawled across the page, her pens barely touching before she was writing the next letter in a word.

_Draco,_

_I am more than pleased to have received you letter, safe and sound. Everything is much different here in Privet Drive, especially since I'm living with a terrified whale of a muggle under the same roof, as well as dad and Harry Potter. Before you drop the letter, please let me explain. Dumbledore coerced my dad into it, and Lily's summoned corpse most definitely aided in this. It was a warding spell the headmaster used on Harry, but will only work as long as one of Harry's blood relatives lives with him, which my father and I most certainly are _not. _However, things aren't all bad since Harry will sometimes help me when I get stuck on a defensive charm or a particularly complicated homework assignment that I need his help with._

_Now that that is out of the way, we have a new neighbor, another witch by good chance. Her name is Chessie, I never caught her last name. She was also a Slytherin, and to tell you the truth, I was quite shocked at how many similarities she has with dad. They both hated Harry's dad with a very strong passion, albeit they didn't know the other existed until she showed up on our doorstep the day we moved in with Harry and she moved into the neighborhood. I know you worry about housing four people in three bedrooms, but not to worry, I have my own bedroom and it is locked up tight at night!_

_You see, Harry's got Dudley's old room, and I got the second bedroom. Dudley (Harry's whale of a muggle cousin) sleeps under the stairs now, just like Harry used to before his first year, and dad insists on treating him like the dirt he walks on (not that I'm complaining since Dudley's an overweight jerk). For once, dad and Harry are seeing eye to eye, and I have yet to catch them argue over the course of this summer vacation and what to do with it. You know, I'm tempted to scare Weasel-bee and write him a copy of this letter… tell me what you think of the idea. I'll keep you updated on the happenings of my household as best I can while I catch up on my schoolwork. And don't worry, dad put wards up so that only those who are of age can get into the house without his knowledge. Well, that and Harry, but he doesn't count since he's a Gryffindork. _

_Well, dad put a stop to Harry's cousin being a spoiled brainless git, for reason I have yet to fathom, and seems intent on tormenting Dudley in the exact ways that Dudley tormented Harry before his first year. I admit, dad took us to the zoo a few days ago, and Dudley flat out refused to go into the reptile house until dad reminded him of the house rule number two he would be breaking (do as I say when I say it). I couldn't help but grin at the look on his face when Harry and I started talking to the snakes inside – it was well worth dad's scowl, I can assure you. Priceless, more so, since the idiot muggle wet himself._

_In other news, the prefect has officially been considered a dumbass for barging in on the wrong house. She burst in on Miss Chessie, who hexed the girl into oblivion before finally stopping to contact my dad in a panic. Imagine his surprise and delight when the one we hate so much was caught by our neighbor who hadn't even heard of the problem until that moment. Oh, sure, dad was tired the next day, but I swear that it made him a little fonder of Miss Chessie… Oh, well. I wouldn't mind a new mom, as long as she doesn't turn out like the original one. Speaking of parents, dad's calling me for lunch. Could you give my best regards to your parents for me, please?_

_Best of Regards,_

_Kiru Snape, Potions Princess_

_P.S. Thank you again for saving my life all those many times. I owe you a life debt, and am sure you will know when the time is right to put that into play._

She sent the letter off with the owl, and flopped onto her bed to take a nap, but was disturbed from her sleep by a very upset Dudley, who was once again whining that her father had set up wards against the muggles to keep them out of the kitchen. She could just imagine the looks on Ron, and Draco's faces when they got their letters…

"Guys, he replied this time!" Ron crowed gleefully as Pig reached him. He read the letter once, twice, a third time before finally grasping what it meant. Ginny contacted Bill and Charlie, who had used the Floo Network to take a lunch break at the Burrow. They sat down at the table, exhausted but also wanting to know what in the world was going on with Ron.

"Ron, read it already," Ginny whined as they arrived, and her brother's face paled.

"My god," Ron yelled in shock, and the family jumped, "Snape's brainwashed Harry into being a Slytherin freak!"

"What?" Molly Weasley snapped at her son's crude language, and Ginny snatched the letter from Ron's hands as Fred, George, and Percy all flooded into the room. She read the letter aloud to the others, shock evident on all their faces. "The nerve of those two," Mrs. Weasley growled when she heard of Harry and Kiru's exploits in the zoo. "And I thought Severus better than this!"

"Think, mum," Fred grinned. "He and Harry are only dishing out what the whale dished out to Harry. At least Snape's being halfway civilized. And let's not forget his daughter, who is apparently turning into a Slytherin version of Hermione. Geez, I hope she doesn't turn out a know-it-all version of Snape."

"Oh, dear god," Percy panicked covering his mouth in shock and horror at the idea.

"I think I'll ditch him next year, the git," Ron gasped, and elsewhere, the four humans taking refuge under Snape's roof sneezed at odd intervals.

Draco read and reread the letter in his hands. Professor Snape getting along with Potter, the very idea was absurd! But if it had come from anyone but Kiru, he'd have had his mother apparate him over to find out the truth of it all. Nonetheless, he was proud of his new friend for scaring the bodily waste out of the Muggle boy, and even more so now that Professor Snape was in on the boy's tortures. He grinned in anticipation – he couldn't wait to see how this turned out. He hastily penned a reply on the back, sending it back so he wouldn't get caught and his parents wouldn't figure it out.

"Dad!" Kiru yelled in shock, not knowing what was going on. "Dad!"

"Not now, I'm busy!" he yelled up from the cellar, but the small girl persisted. "Fine! I'll be up in a minute, just shut up!"

"I didn't do it," Dudley squeaked, waddling away from the wizard's black robes as soon as he saw him coming.

"Quiet, you," Snape snapped on his way up. He reached the bathroom door to find it locked, but her bedroom was empty. "Kiru?"

"In here," she called from the bathroom, and he unlocked it with a tap of his wand. He stopped short, almost backing back out before he saw what she was whining about – bloody underwear. His face must have had emotions, because Kiru immediately started crying. "Dad, I swear, I don't know what happened, I just started bleeding between my legs, and I didn't do anything wrong, I swear!"

"Enough," he snapped, closing the door behind him as he left her behind. He hadn't wanted to see that, but he knew someone better to explain it to the girl, and he saw a strange blue beetle floating down the hall. He had _not _left the windows open today, or last night for that matter.

He flicked his wand, sensing an animagus, and he was more than right. In front of him was none other than Rita Skeeter, who was looking at him terrified. He held his wand aloft, sending her own and her quill and papers flying. Dudley, who had just walked up to see what the commotion was, stood in her way of the exit gawking. Sensing that this woman had angered his new guardian in some way, Dudley stayed put to stop her in her tracks.

"Skeeter," Snape said coldly. "Unless you want to find your writing career ruined, I suggest you give yourself over to the ministry of magic to punish you how they see fit. Or, you can pretend you never saw any of this, and can leave me, my daughter, and my two charges alone and out of the spotlight for a year. Surely you can manage that?"

"I," she began, terrified of Dudley. He'd lost some weight, and his fat now looked more like muscle, at least. "I comply. I will not write a single word about anyone in your household at all."

"And that includes anyone who may be on the teaching staff at Hogwarts," Snape snarled, "and foreigners who aren't accustomed to our country yet."

"I comply," she begged, beginning to grovel at his feet. "Just don't turn me into the ministry!"

"I'm tempted to do just that. However, I will suffice to force you to make an unbreakable vow. Potter, Chessie, get up here," Snape called down, and the two raced up to meet them. "We have a spy in our midst."

"Rita Skeeter," Chessie growled angrily. "I'd recognize you anywhere, you're the one who writes a whole lot of bullshit in _The Daily Prophet_! What's she doing here?"

"Trying to get a good story," she retorted. "I almost had one, till hawk-nose found me."

"Chessie, your wand, please," Snape said nodding. "Potter, watch and learn. We're about to make a reporter make the Unbreakable Vow."

"No!" Rita snarled, and Severus pointed his wand at her throat. "Give me one good reason not to make you go to Azkaban right now!"

"I'll turn you into the ministry as an illegal animagus," the two wizards and Chessie said in unison.

"Do you, Rita Skeeter, swear not to write anything about Chessie Hitoi, or any other foreign born witches or wizards for the next decade?" Snape sneered. "Do you swear not to write anything about the staff at Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry without my permission? Do you swear not to write anything about me, my daughter, or any other family members of mine without my permission?"

Rita had nodded and said a barely audible "I swear," at each question. A snake made of fire wrapped around their wrists as it did so. Snape smirked, knowing she wouldn't risk anything anymore, and watched her flee in cowardice, forcing her to leave her papers behind strewn everywhere. Chessie snorted in contempt, and glanced over at Severus, who was boiling angry now. He jerked his head towards the bathroom, looking downwards to the left, and Chessie's eyes narrowed.

"Are you implying something?" Chessie asked, and the Potions Master sighed at how thick-headed she could be. He let his hand fall on his left hip, putting the papers into a pile with a lazy flick of his right wrist. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. What's up, aside from that _Yerou_ barging in here?"

"I think you know," Snape said looking at the bathroom door, and Chessie suddenly understood. "It's a girl thing, and I have no clue how to continue. Could you help her?"

"You forgot the magic word," Dudley said suddenly, and Snape's eyes locked onto him long enough for the boy to waddle away in terror once more.

"Of course, I'd love to, Snape-san," Chessie said as she entered the bathroom to tell the girl what was going on and what the hormones would do to her body once a month now. Snape sighed – two hormonal boys were bad enough to deal with, but Kiru getting her own hormone problem brought on a whole new level of issues.

Dudley began sobbing as he cleaned out the garden once more. He'd learned to fear Snape's rage just as he avoided Vernon and Petunia's. He frowned as he worked in the garden, missing his parents dearly. He'd lost more weight under this man than he gained in a summer, which was bad, and nobody had said anything about it. Not even his school friends, who had suddenly taken to avoiding his house to avoid the scary new "uncle". The story was that his mom had twin siblings that they didn't know existed, Harry's mom, who was dead, and their new guardian.

"I wish mum and dad were here," Dudley whined as Snape locked him into the cupboard that night for bed. He was now regretting everything he did to Harry, as the lanky boy had taken to making sure their new guardian repeated his offenses upon Dudley's mental, emotional, and social life. No friends, no video games, and worst of all, he was surrounded by freaks all the time. Yes, he thought, his father would bust a lung when he figured out what was going on.

"Too bad," Snape sneered through the door and triple locking it, although he knew the boy couldn't get out. He was tempted to put a warding charm on it, but instead settled for an alerting charm that would let him know when someone came into the home. "Your father's nowhere nearby, _boy_."


	12. Coming Home

Chapter Eleven – The Homecomings

Vernon and Petunia came home at last, terrified at having lost Dudley at the airport, and unable to fully enjoy their week-long vacation just before Harry would get home, and right at the time he got home. Yet another failed attempt to get him off of their backs, they noted when they Dudley working in the yard.

Wait – Dudley working in the yard? Harry not? Their eyes almost popped out of their skulls when someone, Harry, opened the door and Dudley waddled inside. He'd lost weight, they'd noted, and Harry had gained weight. They frowned, knowing immediately that something was wrong. Something was very wrong, this could only mean that someone else was in charge while they were gone. One of _his _lot.

They snuck into the house that night, the doors left wide open. Well, wide open for a muggle. They peered around, and Petunia audibly gasped as they heard their son's sobbing. They followed it hesitantly, only, to their horror, to find Dudley locked under the stairs just as they'd done to Harry. He was gasping, and had most definitely lost at least ten pounds over the course of a few days.

"Mum, dad, get me out of here," he pled quietly. "But, don't wake _him_ up."

"We won't, Dudders. Potter won't be for the wiser," Petunia shushed, not knowing he meant someone that wasn't Harry. Vernon pushed her aside, and she looked around mortified, every sound echoing loudly in the night.

"Petunia, stop that racket," Vernon hissed, glaring at her.

"It's not me," she whispered, a lamp aloft. She turned, and gasped inaudibly at who was standing in the moonlight. It couldn't have been – but it was.

Severus Snape, the boy who had loved Lily so strongly, was in her home, torturing her son, and doing who knew what else! He was probably teaching her blasted nephew about how to become more of a freak, a monster, and probably had brought another owl with him to make a mess, and let that ruddy white one out as well. To make it worse, he'd probably started moving someone else in as well.

"You-You're!" she stuttered.

"Good to see you, too, Tuney. Drop it, Dursley," Snape growled, and Vernon dropped the key to the padlocks in shock with a yelp. Harry bounded downstairs, glaring at the two forms he hated most. "Potter, go back to bed. I'll handle this."

"Yes, Professor," he said obediently and crept upstairs so as not to wake up Kiru. He paused just long enough to quietly whisper, "Professor, what will happen now?"

"Rule Two, Potter," Snape reprimanded, and Harry darted up the rest of the way and into his room. Kiru dashed down, not knowing what was going on, saw the two muggles, and stared at her father. "Kiru, room."

"But, father-!" she stammered, and then fled just as Harry had from her father's glare.

"You're not allowed to attack us," Vernon said desperately. "They'll break your wands."

"Whoever said I was going to let you go?" Snape sneered. "No, I've got something _much _better in mind. I noticed how your son was overweight – much like yourself, you lazy whale of a lout – and decided that since Harry was in need of _gaining _weight, I would give them each other's lifestyles. Well, I also had a reason to let the boy know what he was doing was wrong and to punish him for it, as well as give me a good reason to enjoy myself. Your brat's been doing all the yard-work for a couple days now, it seems almost presentable, while young Potter is enjoying getting to sit around and study for school like a good boy. He's much happier with me since I at least don't believe in withholding food or beating someone half to death for a punishment."

"You-you-you!" Vernon spat, but Snape's wand lit at the tip, showing his coldest, and hardest glare yet. He was more than furious, he knew that, and he knew Lily would be, too. "What are you doing? Get out of my house, and take those freaks with black hair with you!"

Kiru's vision turned almost red with rage – she pulled out her Ocarina, and played the Nocturne of Shadow. "Lily Potter, I summon you," she whispered, and a hot draft brought a large a startled Lily Potter back to life. "Lily, I need you to go downstairs and help my dad. He won't let me, and I don't know if he's fighting Death Eaters or not."

"I'll be right back," she promised, and slunk downstairs. She recognized her clan on the way down from the voices alone, including that of Vernon. Severus had improved upon his glares, and it was sending chills up her – and the Dursley's – spines. "Tuney?"

"Lily? Impossible," the horse-like woman stammered. "You're dead!"

"Kiru," Lily grinned. "Is a musiclancer, a rare gift among witches and wizards that comes from mixing two different lineages from the heads of houses – she's a Gryffindor-Slytherin combination. She just so happens to know a song that can summon the dead. Speaking of which, Tuney, you did _not _do what I asked that day twelve years ago."

"Lily's right, Petunia," Severus glared. "Instead of housing Harry, you locked him under the cupboard, starved him half to death, and forced him to do slave-work for you tirelessly while you sat on your asses and got fatter than Horace Slughorn!"

"That wasn't nice, Severus," Lily grimaced. "To Professor Slughorn, that is. Now, what _else_ have you two done that my best friend now has to reverse?"

"Nothing," Petunia stammered, but Snape was on a role now. He'd just managed to go back to getting a good night's sleep when these two had barged in. So, in a huff, he told Lily everything, and even pulled out a bottle of Veritaserum for good measure, just to scare the living daylights out of the Dursley's.

"I'm tempted to Obliviate them," Snape sighed at last after he finished his angry rant.

"Don't, Sev," Lily said softly. "Harry deserves a second chance. Need I remind you that you hardly treated him any better than they did until I reminded you that Harry isn't James."

"Which he has gotten with me," Snape said calmly. "And I _have _been working on getting along better with him. We haven't fought yet this summer, although I won't deny I was ready to strangle him on quite a few occasions."

"Really? Oh, Thanks, Sev," Lily gushed. "You have no idea how much this means to me. The fact that you're treating my son better than his own aunt and uncle did – especially considering the fact that you hate James. I forgive you."

Snape diverted his eyes to Lily for mere seconds before a loud bang was ensued, and his gut was on fire. Petunia had screamed, and Snape used _Expelliarmus _to keep the children from getting hurt. Chessie was immune to the magical wards since she helped set them up, and raced across the street immediately to help Severus. Lily vanished with a crack, one that she knew she couldn't fight. She'd lost all power; she couldn't fight her own sister, even if her son's life _was _at risk. Severus would get him out; that she was sure of. The question now was of this new woman, who looked about their age. She gasped in recognition at the Slytherin that was seven years her junior. She sighed, knowing that Severus had been badly hurt, and had informed the Muggle authorities. Dudley was let out of the cupboard, but was easily swayed into lying to cover up Snape's cruelty with a glare from Chessie and the Potions Master. He knew what would happen – the two could, and would, make his life a living hell, more so than it already was.

"You're under arrest for attempted murder," the cops said angrily to Vernon ten minutes later, and Petunia stared in shock as Dudley did nothing when they arrived. Snape glared, and Dudley opened his mouth to speak.

"That's not all he did officers. He's been beating my cousin for years," Dudley revealed, and Vernon's eyes bulged in their sockets as he turned a dark purple. "He forced my cousin to live under the stairs for his entire life until a couple years ago when he outgrew it, and had almost starved him to death. If my cousin's friend from private school hadn't broken my cousin's window, my cousin would have starved to death for sure. I was shocked when I lost sight of my parents, but I now realize what's going on. Dad's abusing my cousin, who's been living with us since his mum and dad were murdered, and if my cousin's teacher hadn't showed up tonight, my cousin probably would have died this summer for sure."

"Dudders," Petunia gasped, and Snape grunted in pain. Another officer put a hand on the wound, desperate to stop the bleeding, and the wailing of sirens could soon be heard once more. "I had nothing to do with this, I swear!" Snape grimaced and locked eyes with Harry, who stood stock-still on the stairs, Kiru hidden behind him. Harry smiled at Snape for the first time ever, and was mouthing words that had hitherto been what Snape thought was foreign to the boy: Thank you.

"Sorry, mum," Dudley whispered quietly as they led her away and the paramedics pulled up.

"Chessie, watch them," Snape said firmly as she watched him be loaded onto the ambulance. "Keep them safe, and out of trouble."

"I promise, Sensei," Chessie said, holding up her left arm. "I promise."

Just as the paramedics drove off, Harry and Kiru stumbled downstairs, not knowing what was going on. They'd heard the sirens, and the gunshot, and had seen the blood on the floor, as well as the paramedics and police's panicking. They knew that could only mean one thing – Severus was gone for who knew how long. The officers pulled the boys aside one at a time, and each one began telling their side of the story. Harry and Dudley explained from the beginning. Kiru from when her father had begun watching over them in honor of Harry's dead mother's memory. Snape was giving his witness as well, albeit very unhappily in an ambulance. He'd known that Harry came from an abusive home when Harry flinched a number of times in "Chemistry" class, and had a distinct inkling that more was going on in his home than they knew.

"Harry?" Dudley asked, the two of them now wearing prison uniforms. "What'll happen now?"

"Well, Big D," Harry said calmly. "Severus or Chessie will probably bail us out, if we're lucky. If we're not, then I'd gather that someone I know will. Trust me, we've always got our ways and our circles of influence, even where you least expect it."

"I believe you," Dudley whimpered, scared of the sight of the angry and pained Potions Master who had put his life on the line to protect Harry. "I was wrong. Your teacher's more devoted than I thought possible."

"Yeah," Harry muttered, not knowing where to go with this, and – to his shock – wondering if Snape was alright. "I didn't think he had it in him, either. As far as I've known up until now, he hates me with everything he's got. Now that I know why he was protecting me – it makes more sense as to why he acted the way he did, and still does."

Within days, the newspapers were slewing out articles about the perfect Dursleys and how their reputation was ruined, but never anything about their home, or even the anonymous teacher who had rescued the Dursley's poor nephew, or the boy's name. The article did, however, mention the fact that Dudley had betrayed his parents and told the officers everything he knew. The two boys had also put Marge in jail for her illegal dog breeding and fighting. The two boys were also incarcerated, but were due to be let out for cooperating with the law for so long and seeing as they had no control in the home whatsoever.

Snape heard the familiar _beep-beep-beep _of the hospital, and shook his head as he woke up from the drugs that the muggles had put into him. The medics panicked, and Snape gave them his best glare before hearing the familiar name of _Hitoi _brought up by the more terrified ones. Two people walked in, ones that he knew must have been Chessie's parents, and visibly scowled at the rest of the younger, less experienced, medics.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Snape," the old woman smiled gently. "We'll take this one, kids. Go tend to the others who need you. He won't be giving Junketsu and me any trouble."

Snape had to suppress a laugh – a man whose name meant 'chastity' had no chance of earning his respect anytime soon. Still, the other medics left, leaving him alone with the elderly couple.

"It's alright, young man," Junketsu chuckled. "I'm used to it from those who understand Japanese. Go ahead and do what you need to do – we can tell you're like our daughter, Chessie. You're her new neighbor, if I'm correct."

"Yes, sir," Snape grunted quietly. "Thank you." With a slight bit of concentration, he focused and willed the bullet to go to the entrance so they could get it out of him cleanly. The male medic did so, and Snape was soon flicking his wand at his internal organs that had been damaged.

After about twenty minutes, his magic ran out, but it had done wonders for his health and sanity. The bullet had ruptured a kidney, and even lodged itself inside him. He was tired, yes, but it had been well worth the extra effort. He was well on the road to recovery, and trusted the two medics enough to stitch his wounds shut. He would apparate to Poppy or – crazier yet – Granger, for help. Either them or Molly, and the last one on his list was Granger, with Poppy first on his list. He was almost back into the deep waters of slumber when an angry Lucius Malfoy barged in – no doubt having gotten word through Kiru's uncanny fire abilities with the Bolero of Fire. Lucius looked at the potions master, who was saluting mockingly, before his hand flopped down tiredly. Lucky for these two muggles, they didn't know what the dark mark looked like.

"Severus you," Lucius began, but the old woman shook her head. "You're the parents of a muggle born?"

"Yes, our daughter is a witch," the old man repeated as he cleaned his tools and put them away slowly. He was wary of leaving the two wizards alone – hell knew what two would do, especially from the rumors he'd heard of the Malfoy's.

"I see," Lucius said tartly.

"Potter's aunt and uncle," Snape growled. "The brainless whale shot me with a gun. Believe me, Lucius, I won't make the same mistake twice. Even if it was on orders to do so, he can forget it."

Three days later, Harry and Dudley were finally allowed to go home. Chessie was there, and so was Lucius Malfoy. Strangely, Arthur, Ron, and Ginny Weasley were also there, and there was a wary truce amongst the two men. Draco was more concerned for Kiru, who were both visiting Snape in the hospital. Ginny and Ron rushed up to Harry as he got home from the cops, who were standing appalled. Kiru had been in charge while her father was gone, and this new neighbor had been kind enough to not only help that night, but well into the next week, even rallying a few of the children's friends from school to help calm them down. Snape, however, wasn't pleased with Draco's report.

"Sir, Weasel-bee is at the house," Draco sneered at last. "It was that Chessie woman's idea. She said it would be better for the boys if they had someone to look forward to when they got home. Three Weasley's – the father and the youngest two – are there, and father is as well with Chessie."

"Yes, Lucius visited me," Snape grinned. Kiru was at the window, crying silently. "Come now, princess, I'm alive and almost recovered. What's wrong now?"

"I'm scared, daddy," she sobbed. "I'm scared of what will happen when they come back. We won't be of age, and it's impossible to keep an eye on two muggles, and not hex them. What will we do?"

"I've been thinking about that," the potions master admitted. "But I have a feeling you won't like the idea that I had in mind. Kiru, how objective are you to getting a new mother?"

"As long as she's not violent towards either of us, I don't care," Kiru replied truthfully. She'd never had a proper motherly influence before McGonagall, and even then she'd been changed hands so often between female aurors it hadn't even been funny.

"I see," Snape said simply, plotting his next move. He'd have to find out how Chessie would react – and how to get a bigger living space with more rooms. With both a witch and wizard of age in the house, they could handle twice the trouble in the same amount of time or less.

"Severus," Lucius greeted warmly as the Potions teacher walked slowly up the driveway. Kiru and Draco had visited him, and he'd been dispatched early for good behavior and a speedy recovery. But the kids could all tell that he tired easily, for by the time he reached the house, he was breathing slightly heavily. He was sweating before he even reached the kitchen, and Ginny shot up from her chair – which was nearest to the doorway – to make room for the exhausted professor. He plopped down, breathing heavily, but nodding thanks.

"Severus, are you alright? How's the bullet wound?" Chessie asked, and the Weasley's eyes widened.

"Yes, Weasley, bullets come from guns, which are the muggle version of a wand," Snape snapped before they could even start. "Guns shoot bullets and other projectiles at over one hundred kilometers or so an hour – and it's not fun to get one in you. I've got the hospital bill to prove it…"

"I'm so sorry, Professor," Ginny whispered, backing off. Ron opened his mouth, but closed it again, not sure what to say to his most hated teacher.

"Professor," Harry said as he and Dudley walked in. The two raven haired wizards looked at each other before embracing, one delicately so as not to hurt the other. "Thank you for saving us. We owe you our lives. Well, and I owe you my freedom."

"You know why I did it," Snape chided, jabbing his lightning shaped scar before falling back onto the chair. "Confound it all, I hate this stupid injury! How long will this take to heal?"

"The medics said to take it easy for a few more weeks," Kiru said, coming up to her father's side with bandages. "That, and change out the bandages every so often."

"Seems simple enough," Snape frowned. Something was missing – ah yes, the third member of the dream team wasn't here. Thank Kami for that, but he'd still rather have the redhead boy out of his house. It _was _his now, wasn't it? "Potter, what are the legal rules of custody?"

"Um, abusive parents go to jail and the children go to the next of kin," Harry answered slowly, knowing what he wanted to know. "But, you've already got custody of Dudley and me, sir. I doubt the police would argue with you. We just tell them that my aunt and uncle had gone away, and you adopted Dudley and me since the newspapers pronounced them dead. If they ask questions, just say that you were my mum's best friend, or heck, call yourself my godfather if you need to. I doubt anyone would take both me and Dudley back in."

"If it's all the same to you, Harry," Dudley said quickly. "As overprotective as your teacher is, he scares the shit out of me."

"He does that to everyone, Big D," Harry retorted. "Trust me, even the medics who were trying to help him were terrified of him, and that was with a bullet killing him."

"Dunderheads," Snape shook his head with a smirk. "It was quite satisfying to scare them into shitting bricks when I woke up from their muggle drugs. Pah, they thought it would keep a wizard asleep, but I got the last laugh when two Muggles walked in with a daughter who's a witch. A certain witch _in this room_."

"You met my parents?" Chessie panicked, and Snape couldn't suppress a small huff of amusement as she blushed crimson. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought they had," Snape shrugged. "Besides that, Kiru was occupying my time by panicking left right and center. I swear she's as protective of me as I am of her. A pity she can't channel that energy elsewhere when another Slytherin is around…"

"Dad!" Kiru yelled in shock, blushing crimson just as Chessie had before her. Draco had also averted Snape's gaze and had taken a sudden interest in their backyard, Harry noted.

"You like him," Harry realized. "Kiru, you like Ma-Draco, don't you?" she blushed deeper.

"Guilty," Ron grinned, suddenly noticed. "Oi, Malfoy's blushing, too!"

"I am not," Draco snapped, turning to show that he wasn't flushed. Yes, he was embarrassed, but he had a grip on himself more than that. "You lying, filthy…"

"Draco," Snape warned, and the young Malfoy clamped his mouth shut. "Thank you. I do not need another blood bath in my house, most especially so soon after the last one that nearly killed me."

"Well, Harry, I'm glad to see you're in capable hands," Arthur said standing up, unable to take the tense extreme hatred-filled surroundings any longer. "And I'm also pleased to see that you're recovering well, Severus. Ron, Ginny, I think we best leave – _before _we do more harm to Professor Snape than good."

"Bye guys," Draco sneered, and Snape smirked. He would always prefer his little snakes over those Gryffindor brats any day of the year at any given time. Harry raced out, probably to talk to Ron and Ginny about the mudblood, but had raced back once the familiar _crack _of apparition was heard.

"Well, we'd best be leaving as well," Lucius admitted. "It's a shame we couldn't stay longer, Severus, but I feel it would be better for your health if you got some more rest. I'll be sending a house elf to help you until you have made a full recovery."

"Thank you, Lucius," Snape said with a nod. "That is most appreciated – although I daresay we need to leave some tasks up to the muggle, still."

"But of course," Lucius grinned evilly. He frowned – Potter had freed Dobby, which other house elf was the unhappiest? He sighed before apparating back to his home to give Narcissa the good news of Severus' triumph. He could also tell Draco was heading to his room to write a nice, lengthy letter to Kiru.

"Dad," Kiru said at last. "What'll happen to the Muggles?"

"Who cares," Harry laughed. Just then, another resounding _crack _was heard. "Oh, now who?"

"Harry?" they heard Hermione knocking frantically from behind the front door.

"Severus?" a worried Professor McGonagall joined in.

"Don't you dare," Snape mouthed, but Dudley did anyways, Harry close behind.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed hugging him as Dudley backed off. He'd gotten better at being able to move around now that he wasn't so fat. Well, he was still fat – just not _as _fat, and was therefore able to move a little more easily. "I thought he weighed more than this from your description!"

"I did, before your teacher got a hold of me," Dudley stammered, to which Severus slammed a book down onto the table, scaring Dudley into sitting obediently on the couch. Kiru raced downstairs, only to laugh profusely at Dudley's wetting himself again. "It's not funny!"

"At least I protected you from the law, boy," Snape retorted coldly as he slowly made his way out to the door, leaning on a cane for support. "I could have let you go to jail for beating, Potter, too, you know."

"Sorry, sir," Dudley muttered, and Harry moved aside for the two girls to come in. Snape was relieved that it was Minerva who'd brought Hermione – anyone else and the know-it-all would have driven him batty.

"I saw that, Severus Snape," Minerva grimaced. "Stop mentally attacking my lion cubs."

"Stop attacking my snakes," he retorted, heading over to sit on the nearest chair. He sighed, more than happy he was home, but also exhausted. "We mustn't touch what isn't ours, Granger."

"Sorry, Professor," Hermione said quickly, putting her hands behind her before stopping at one of the photos. "Sir, who are these?"

"Ah. The one with the four boys in it – as I'm sure you'll recall, Minerva – are the Marauders. Remus Lupin is the thin one, aka, Moony. Padfoot is Sirius Black, the one with long black hair. Potter, Sr, was Prongs, as you can guess. I think you know who the last one is," he said waving his hand. "As for the next frame – that one was of Sarabella, Lily and I in our fifth year, just before Lily and I had gotten into an argument. One that lasted well beyond her death, I'm sorry to say."

"Yeah, but she apologized. Right, dad?" Kiru asked. "That night that the Dursley's broke in and shot you, the one that I brought Lily back to weaken them – didn't she apologize?"

"Yes, Kiru, she did," Snape said simply. "We _both _apologized. The next picture over – you'll have to ask Potter that one."

"That one's of me, mum and dad, taken right before they were murdered," Harry told her sadly, his green eyes confused in the photo and he started crying as an infant from the flash. "Professor Lupin gave me that photo. He'd had a copy made to put back in his album, but he gave it to me to let me know that my parents weren't killed before they failed to let the world know I was there."

"Wow," Hermione murmured. She giggled at one of she, Ron, Harry, and Ginny in this most recent school year.

"I try to keep that one up to date," Harry smiled. "And I'm not the only one. Take a look at the next one."

"Is that – _Kiru and Malfoy_?" Hermione asked, and Harry laughed before nodding. "How? When? Why?"

"That's my godson you're insulting, Granger," Snape warned wearily, taking his eyes off Minerva for a split second. He snapped them back onto her, and she scowled.

"Honestly, Severus, I'm not going to hex you," she snapped, and the Gryffindor teens laughed. Dudley was amiss in all this, not knowing what to do. "Severus, how did you do it?"

"What, the muggle? Same thing I do with the students," he smirked. "It's quite fun, truth be told, with less limitations on what you can and can't do."

"Professor!" Hermione shrieked, startled by a large raven that swooped in. Snape held up his arm, and the raven landed with a letter on its leg. "You- use a raven?"

"Your point?" Snape retorted, looking at the contents. "Ah, Albus finally wrote me back. It took him long enough, I daresay. I sent him the blasted letter as soon as I was allowed to write in that blasted hospital. I swear I was tempted to write in my own blood, and threatened them to give me pen and paper before I did so."

"Typical," McGonagall shook her head. "Severus, what is it?"

"I wrote to him about the issues I'd run into with custody," Snape replied, scanning the letter. "Hm, it seems like he doesn't give a ra- snake's tongue. What, it's better than cussing in front of a first year."

"I still don't approve of it," McGonagall snapped angrily.

"I never said you had to," Snape said as his vision blurred slightly before he slowly fell into the dark waters of slumber, with just enough time to mutter out a few choice swear words.


	13. Parchment, Anyone?

Chapter Twelve – Parchment, anyone?

Snape awoke in his own bed with a blanket over him. Minerva's doing, he mused. He also noted a very angry headmaster next to his bed.

"What is the meaning of this, Severus?" he asked, his eyes flashing angrily.

"The Muggles came back and started threatening the kids. I did nothing to them, and pointed my wand at them only to light it with _Lumos_. The male," Snape said hotly, "The one I swear looked like a blueberry with arms and legs – shot me without warning as I had my eye on the stairwell for mere seconds to tell the children to get back in bed."

"So you felt the need to drive him insane?" Dumbledore asked, and Snape furrowed his brow. "He claims to have been tortured with one of the three unforgivable curses, the Cruciatus curse. He claims he didn't get a good look at his assailant, but saw that it was someone tall with black hair down to their shoulders."

"You're forgetting, headmaster," Snape interrupted. "That Arachne is still out on the loose. She may very well have done it to him before putting the Imperius curse on him."

"You deny it?" Dumbledore murmured, "When the boys clearly say otherwise?"

"What?" Snape gasped, startled. Surely Potter hadn't told the headmaster to get away from him. He'd been acting as civilly as possible to the spawn of his rival.

They hadn't fought yet (a record he knew wouldn't last the whole month, let alone the whole summer), and he'd even been gracious enough to allow Potter to dish out anything he pleased to Dudley, including recreating Dudley's pre-Hogwarts treatment of Harry. Yes, Dudley hated him, but he'd kept the whale out of prison and had been helping him lose weight to benefit the boy's health. Also, the two cousins were almost acting civil towards each other, although Harry still used Dudley as a target on his off days.

"I – headmaster, I would never," he stated shocked, then glared. "Wait a minute – this _can't _be right! I put up wards all around the house to make sure nobody – not muggle or wizard – could get in without my knowing! Which death Eater are you?"

"Clever," Dumbledore growled. "But not clever enough, Severus. And here the Dark Lord trusted you." Snape looked on as Dumbledore shrank into Bellatrix Lestrange, angry and menacing. "You're a spy for the old man! I'm no dummy – I slipped it off his robes when he visited while you were asleep."

"You," Snape growled, but stopped as her wand went to his throat. "You're nothing more than a vile, evil, no count slut of a whore."

"Hark who's talking," she cackled. "I tortured Sirius Black. You raped Sarabella to get out of marrying me. I rotted in Azkaban for thirteen years, and what do you have to give him, Severus? Twelve years of babysitting brats for Dumb-ly-dore!"

"I was a spy for the Dark Lord, pretending to be one for Dumbledore," he glared. "I'd like to see you balancing two psychotic masters on a dangerous tightrope. No, the man trusted me, so I was able to serve the Dark Lord more by keeping tabs on everything, especially the Potter boy."

"Yes, you _house _him, Severus," Bellatrix laughed. "How very soft of you. But, don't worry my love; I'll be sure to make you nice and hard again before I kill you."

"Don't move," Lily and James Potter glared. "Bellatrix Lestrange, I should have known. Is Voldemort not good enough anymore?"

"I'd rather die than sleep with you," Snape glared. "I'd rather die than sleep with any woman that I don't see fit to."

"Avada Keda-" Bellatrix began, but the two Potters apparated her away before she could finish. The trio writhed and twisted, stopping at the Ministry momentarily before leaving with Bellatrix screaming in defiance. "Potter!"

"Severus," Lily gasped as they arrived back.

"Severus, are you alright?" James asked, and Lily and Snape's eyes widened in shock. "What? I'm human, too you know. And, I, uh…apologize…for everything I did to you during school. I've watched the way my nephew treated Harry, and I realized that he was using Harry like I was using you. I'm sorry, Severus."

"Apology accepted, Pot – James," Snape said roughly correcting himself. If Potter could be man enough to use first names – his _real _first name – then so could he. He owed James a life debt in return now, damn it! Great, not again!

"No, Severus," James said roughly. "We told Kiru we had unfinished business all of a sudden. You saved our son and our nephew from getting kidnapped by my evil in-laws."

"Besides, Sev, you're a much better guardian for Harry than Tuney ever was," Lily added. "Bloody hell, Sev, your worst days are better than Tuney's best ones!"

"I get it," Snape frowned. "What'd you do with Bellatrix?"

"Oh, left her at the Ministry of Magic," James shrugged.

Snape sighed and crept off to check on the criminal trio. Kiru was wide awake, studying, and hadn't heard him peek in or close the door. The boys, on the other hand, were fast asleep and snoring loudly. Well, Dudley was snoring, while Harry was struggling to get some blanket back. The head of Slytherin scowled before picking Dudley up roughly and hauled him over to the couch, forcing a light sheet onto him to protect him from the air conditioner that was blasting in his face. Snape frowned and went back to Harry's room, to which the teen had woken up and put his glasses on in confusion. Snape jerked his head, and the young Potter silently followed in his pajamas.

"Mum, dad," Harry gasped quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking in on you two," James replied, and Lily smiled at the potions master. "Son, I never thought I'd say this about Sn-Severus. But, he has turned out to be a better guardian than your aunt and uncle. I'm sorry I couldn't warn Sirius of Bellatrix's plot before she put it into action."

"Speaking of Bella's plots," Snape murmured quietly. "We've got a huge problem. She won't stop attacking and trying to rape and/or me until she manages it."

"She always was twisted in every way, even under the sorting hat, he said so himself," Lily shuddered.

"And the day I let that happen, everyone in all four houses will be singing '_kumbaya_' together," Snape said with finality. "With me leading them wearing pink dress robes for a girl."

"Oh, god," Harry muttered, putting his hand on his mouth to suppress a grin. Snape singing 'Kumbaya' was one funny yet creepy image, him wearing pink girl robes was another. Put the two together? _That _was outrageously funny, but scary as hell at the same time. He didn't dare tell Hermione or any of the Weasley's though, not yet. Not if he wanted to live, he wouldn't. Snape saw into his mind immediately, so Harry surmised he really needed to work on shielding his thoughts somehow.

"Very funny," Snape snarled. "All jokes and sarcasm aside, I do believe we need to kill the bitch."

Harry nodded before getting an idea. Bellatrix may have been attacking _him, _but landed in Snape's room instead. Or, perhaps it was all a nightmare? Or – dare he say it – the prefect that had attacked Kiru had returned in Polyjuice Potion form?

"No, Potter," Snape sighed. "Bellatrix had used the Polyjuice Potion to impersonate the headmaster. Trust me, she timed this down to the minute, even the second, perhaps."

Bellatrix growled in frustration. The two Potters had come back, but that meant that someone in that house had one of two powers – Necromancy, or a Musiclancer. She growled, and apparated back, only to find that Snape was joined by the Potter boy and the boy's parents. She breathed heavily out her nostrils, but silently. This was her chance – she could kill Snape now and bring the boy – and the other children in the house – to the Dark Lord. The Potter clan was on edge, after hearing the familiar crack, and Kiru had been downstairs in the kitchen trying to find the source of the intrusion from the first time. Naturally, she heard the crack, grabbed a knife, and stalked upstairs to find a female with very curly black hair. Well, like mother always used to tell her – attack first, questions later.

"You're mine, Snape," the woman whispered quietly. "You'll be my husband or my name isn't Bellatrix Lestrange."

Kiru launched the knife like a dart, hitting Bellatrix in the back, then racing forward to drive it into her up to the hilt. Her father, having heard the noise, jerked the door open to find what had happened. She was staring at the blood on her hands, by now, and he at her. She'd killed a person, albeit it self-defense, in an ambushing way. He peered into Kiru's mind, seeing Bellatrix's threat resound in the girl's ears from the howler, and then the whispered threat. Naturally, she'd kill first and ask questions later – it was how her mother had probably raised her without him. He almost shuddered to think of what would happen if the child hadn't been there to protect him.

"Blood," she muttered, and he immediately led her to the sink in the bathroom to wash her hands. "Blood, oh Kami, what have I done?"

"Killed a criminal," her father replied roughly, but he couldn't help but be proud of her – she'd killed one of the best witches in her time without the woman even having a chance to fight back. It was a very crude, Muggle way of doing so, but she'd killed for Dumbledore nonetheless. He'd have to write the Headmaster now, and go to the Ministry of Magic for a hearing alongside Kiru.

"Oh, shit," the girl sobbed, and Snape immediately pulled her into a hug and cleaned up Bella's blood off the carpets with a flick of his wand. Naturally, he sent his patronus to one of the other aurors, who soon apparated into the house. Kiru jumped, playing Hime's song to drop the effects of the Nocturne of Shadow, and went back to washing her hands.

"Whoa," the five aurors muttered as they saw Bellatrix's dead body in the hall. "What the bloody hell happened here?"

"If you'll give me time, I'll explain," Snape said calmly. They remained quiet, so he told them everything he knew – excluding Kiru's being a musiclancer since he knew the ministry would put her behind bars for necromancy with it.

Naturally, Tonks went into the bathroom to find the girl still washing her hands, eyes wide. Severus pulled his daughter into the living room to have her explain her side of the story, which she did in very gruesome detail, also leaving out the fact that she was a musiclancer and had summoned Lily and James Potter. By the time she was done, she was breathing heavily, and Snape had his arm around her protectively since she was perched on the arm of his chair.

"Well, the stories match," Shacklebolt said calmly. "And Bellatrix Lestrange, a known Death Eater, is dead. We'll be sending you the reward money by owl or with another auror as soon as we get it from the Ministry of Magic. I'm sure Fudge would _love _to hear that an escaped Death Eater from Azkaban was ruthlessly murdered by a girl fresh from her first year at Hogwarts."

"Indeed," Snape muttered, more tired and stressed now than he had been at sunset. "it's enough to make this father proud, though."

He looked at the clocks – five-thirty in the morning, there was no use going back to bed now. Naturally, he gave Kiru a calming potion, to which she immediately fainted. He shook his head slightly and picked her up bridal style to carry her back upstairs to bed. Harry himself had also gone back to bed, wanting no part in what was going on with the aurors, although he was quite glad that his Professor had removed the body from the hallway. With the sound of five familiar _crack_s, the aurors left, and the Professor had gone to the kitchen to write a letter to Dumbledore – he had a _lot _to explain.

He could hear Dudley in the cupboard now, quietly hyperventilating, a fact that the adult's talking had covered up quite nicely, and wondering what the hell was going on upstairs and why Kiru had stalked past with a knife. He sighed, then turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand, pulling out a pen from the side of the fridge.

_Headmaster,_

_In light of the recent turn of events, I feel the need to inform you of what has been going on at this insane asylum. To sum it all up would encase the whole letter, I'm sad to say. But, I shall start at the beginning after picking Harry up at Platform 9 3/4. I won't deny, I divulged the news of my adopting Harry to Molly and Arthur Weasley since they seem to have taken Harry under their wings whenever he was being abused by the wretched Muggles. Granger also knows, but I made sure that she wouldn't tell anyone else, and Minerva I'm sure can attest to such since she had brought Granger with side-along apparition. _

_The whale of the Muggle has begun behaving himself, I'm happy to say, and rarely talks back to me, or any other adult for this matter (although I'm sure this is because I've been using my teaching methods on him like I do the unruly seventh years). Harry has even begun doing his homework for Hogwarts, although I'm not sure how enthusiastic he is about that. The boys, shockingly enough, are acting extremely civil to each other and rarely get in fights that I can tell. Kiru is acting like Granger and burying herself in her studies, much to my delight. Heaven knows she needs it, although we _don't _need another know-it-all in the school, especially in my house, and most emphatically not my own child. _

_Their behavior aside, we have been attacked a few times over the course of this past week, only one of which each world is privy to. Although, I sincerely hope you get this letter before your morning papers of _The Daily Prophet._ The Muggle's parents mysteriously showed up in the middle of the night about a week ago, and I had let my guard down and left one of the back windows next to a door open just enough for the woman to stick her hand through and open the back door. Luckily I caught them with one of the charms I'd set up, and stalked downstairs. I found them trying to break their son out, but intervened since I knew they were terrified of wizards and you knew that the Muggle brat was imperative to the plan. _

_I shot no spells at them, I can assure you, and can show you as such. The adult male used a gun, a thought that I didn't think of, and shot me as I glared at the staircase to let Harry and Kiru know to stay away. Naturally, one of the neighbors heard the gunshot and called the authorities, and so I was forced with the humiliation of going to a Muggle hospital. Thank god the two Muggle doctors that came in to remove the bullet have a daughter who is a witch – they turned their backs to my magic and let me take care of myself until I could do no more. At that point, they stitched the wound closed and I spent a day or so in the Muggle hospital, to which quite a few friends of Harry and Kiru's decided to stop by, Lucius and Draco Malfoy among them. Thank God the Weasley's didn't show up until I went home. Luckily for me, the new neighbor across the street is the one whose parents were the medics that worked on me, so she was able to pick up the two boys after they'd given their testimonies to the police. Don't even think about telling me I need to marry her, you can forget it. I'll decide if and who I marry as I please._

_It was at that point that Lucius brought Draco to the house, to which the latter brought Kiru to the hospital. I don't approve of her dating yet, but when she does, Draco is admittedly the boy who's best suited for her. Naturally, Arthur showed up with his two youngest, since our neighbor had just brought the boys back home and thought the children needed a familiar face to help them cope with their stress. I am quite glad, however, that they remained submissive and spoke mostly to Harry, although the girl did worry about the injury I sustained if only for a few minutes before she remembered that Harry was in the room. The Weasley's left first, thank god, unable to stand being in my house any longer and Draco and Lucius left soon after to let me get some rest. However, just after they left, not five minutes later, mind you, Minerva decided to show up with the Granger girl in tow. Whether this was to spite me, I have yet to force that information from her. Thankfully, they didn't stay long since Minerva was quite skilled in telling my emotions through my eyes, and added to the fact that I felt lightheaded somewhat._

_I've been recovering fine from the gunshot wound, but I would be doing much better if I wasn't visited by an angry Bellatrix Lestrange, who seems to think that since Rodolphus is in Azkaban and the Dark Lord is gone, that I am her new play toy. Hell to the fucking no. Over my dead body would I sleep with her, or any other Death Eater for that matter. Strangely, Kiru happened to be awake when she apparated into my house, and summoned Lily and James Potter to my aide. Harry was allowed all of five minutes to talk to them, since we then heard a large object fall on the door. I can still see the look on the two children's faces when I opened the door to reveal and bloody, now lifeless, Bellatrix. Kiru had crept down to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and waited for what she knew was Bellatrix to reveal her plot before killing her ruthlessly by stabbing her in the back and driving the knife up to the hilt. _

_Alas, the children are once again stirring out of slumber, so I will close with the fact that Harry and I have yet to get in a fight (although I'm not sure how much longer it will last)._

_Severus_

"Poe, take it," I hissed, rolling the parchment up quickly and fastening it to his leg. "Take this to Albus' office, quickly." He flew off just as Harry walked in yawning loudly and rubbing his eyes. Dudley walked in as well, not sure of how to continue with this. He knew something had happened, something wizard related and very deadly, but didn't know what.

"Dudley, maybe we should eat in the backyard," Harry suggested warily as he saw the mug of coffee in my hand. He could somehow tell it was the first one for the morning. I headed out to the living room to read the morning paper, and wasn't at all surprised to find that the news was, once again, back to being about boring Muggle Politics.


	14. Spinning Webs

Chapter Thirteen – Spinning Webs

Severus Snape had never been a romantic man, but his thoughts always seemed to turn to Chessie ever since she'd helped him get control of the muggle situations he'd found himself in. He had to admit her brown hair was very opposite to his own and was smooth and silky without the slightest sign of oils or dandruff. Her slight frame was very much like Lily's, only with slight different curves. Her eyes were a chocolate brown like her hair, and better yet she was good with children, while he wasn't at all. She was good at transfiguration and healing arts, while he was a Potions Master and was better with hexes or jinxes. She was hyper and open, while he was cold and reserved. He was more suited for the wizard world and its customs, while she was more suited for the Muggle world and its customs. Between the two of them, they were very much knowledgeable, and she never once treated him like dirt or anything of the like, and he likewise.

Chessie had taken to visiting him on an almost on a daily basis, much to his dismay, and he'd even seen her parents come to her house to see how she'd settled in. Much to their surprise, he's just returned from shopping and had the three children helping him bring the groceries in. He looked over, and nodded curtly before passing the next set of bags over to Dudley, who turned them over to Kiru, who turned them over to Harry. As the last of the bags was finally unloaded, Chessie dashed up to him.

"I was wondering if you could come meet my parents properly," she said quickly, acting like a small child from what Snape could see as a front. He sighed, motioned for Harry to follow him, and the two headed over to Chessie's house for the first time.

"Before you enter, Mr. Snape," Junketsu Hitoi said with a gleam in his eyes. "You have to answer a riddle."

"What do we look like, people sorted into Ravenclaw?" Snape retorted, but folded his arms and remained still.

"It cannot be seen; cannot be felt; cannot be heard; cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars, and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first then follows after. Ends life, kills laughter," the old man said.

"The answer is dark," Snape grinned, having already heard it, but continued the song. "The Dark."

"Although that last part sounds like his potions dungeon in the school," Harry piped up, and the men had to suppress laughter. The old man moved out of the way, and Snape stepped into the threshold.

"Have the two of you ever seen the movie _The Hobbit_?" Junketsu asked, and Harry and Snape nodded. "Really? What were your favorite songs off of it?"

"Old Fat Spider," Harry grinned. "It reminds me of when I had to get away from one of the giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest. Aragog, they called him."

"Only you," Snape glared. "That one was my second favorite, but only because it was won over by Gollum's Riddle."

"So that's how you knew the answer," Junketsu laughed. "Only those with the soundtrack would get the riddle. I must admit, Snape-san, I didn't expect you to get it right. I've tried that riddle on more than a dozen men, and none of them got it right, thank goodness. You see, they were all stricken and trying to get into the house to date Chessie, but for some strange she kept saying no since they weren't wearing green robes. I didn't fully understand, so I came up with the riddle, and she explained the four colors of the houses. You're wearing black, but you were in Slytherin, yes?"

Snape nodded, and Chessie's mother openly laughed at her husband's stupidity. Snape shook his head, and interrogated by Chessie's dad while Harry had begun talking to Chessie's mom. Within hours, the old man was grinning, and the Potions master was tired. The old man knew the reason, so he nodded and let the two raven-haired Hogwarts attendees leave, much to Harry's dismay and Snape's extremely well hidden delight. Chessie followed them over, ensuring that Snape got the medicine he needed, and was startled by a raven tapping on one of the windows. She relaxed when Snape let it in, however, and was startled to find that Snape was upset at what the letter said.

"Snape-san, what's wrong?" Chessie asked tentatively, and the wizard sighed, pulling on his raven locks to cover a lie. "Oh, you, too? I used to have oily hair that would get extremely oily no matter how often I washed it, and every time I got the oil out in the shower it was back within hours."

"But, that makes no sense," Snape snapped. "How do you suddenly get rid of the oils in your body? It's physically impossible to do so!"

"Not necessarily. I wash my hair daily with a special potion I invented one summer," she grinned. "It took me until my seventh year to figure it out and get it just right, but I did it. You wash your hair with it, and presto, no oil for twenty-four hours, no signs of dandruff, and it comes out so clean and silky that it would startle anyone! Even steam from potions won't affect your hair!"

"I never would have guessed," Snape said shaking his head. "You'll have to show me how to make it sometime. I'd like to see the looks on the students' faces when I walk into class and don't have oily hair. They'll be shitting bricks those first few days unless they're first years."

"Or," Chessie grinned. "You could start it in the middle of the year right before Christmas break. That'll get them _all _crapping bricks!"

"You vile woman," Snape grinned. "I love it, and I will most certainly do so!"

About a week before the term started, the two were tucked away by a few aurors, with Harry and Kiru as well, both dressed in dress robes. Snape's were a dark purple and almost black, much to everyone's shock, while Chessie's were a pastel pink. Harry and Kiru knew to leave the two alone in Chessie's home, and they'd even gotten Lupin to keep an eye on Dudley for them so he couldn't crash the wedding. That had been one of Snape's biggest issues was that Dudley and Lupin weren't there, so they decided to kill two birds with one stone. There were a few of Snape's favorite students there, as well as a few that Chessie had invited, but there were equal numbers of both from Gryffindor and Slytherin. Only two of the other Professors were there as well (McGonagall and Dumbledore), and were quite shocked to see Harry at the wedding since it was common knowledge that he and the Potions Master detested each other. The wedding vows were soon exchanged, after much impatience from Snape and Chessie.

"I'll be damned if I let Hogwarts think they get rid of having a Professor Snape," Chessie grinned evilly, a sadistic gleam in her eyes. "You know, the hat said I had equal traits for Slytherin and Gryffindor, and told me to choose one. I had an acquaintance in Gryffindor, and a fear of Slytherin since it was the house the Dark Lord came from."

"Ah hah," Snape smirked as they kissed. "That explains the lunacy I love so much. Speaking of which, don't you _dare _egg the Weasley twins on if you start teaching."

"I could take over History of Magic," she taunted, and he had to force himself to keep from laughing out loud. Too many students were in front of him, and it was bad enough that his hair was clean, albeit he'd only used a few drops, so it was now getting quite oily again.

"And I'm sure that would scare the crap out of a number of students," he chuckled as they walked down the aisle together.

He slipped Harry and Kiru a note that they'd be over at Chessie's house if they desperately needed some help, but were only to ask for help if Death Eaters were involved. Lupin would babysit them for the next thirty-six hours, not that they'd mind since they'd been on good terms with him. They grinned and apparated into Chessie's backyard, startling her parents, who had let themselves in since she didn't answer her phone. They took one look at the couple, saw the outfits and rings, and immediately understood what had happened behind their backs.

One look from Snape, however, and the two Muggles thought and left for the wiser to give the couple some privacy and alone time. The newlyweds grinned widely, although they had a lot to talk about. She explained how she'd thought he was her potions teacher, the one who'd gone from substitute for Slughorn, to full time teacher that next school year. He'd been the reason she quit potions as well as the fact that it was her weakest area. He explained how he'd vaguely remembered teaching her, but how he'd been terrified and aloof that year since they were rounding up Death Eaters and he'd been one as a spy for Dumbledore. She'd busted a lung when he told her, but calmed down once he'd forced her to use legimency on him to prove it.

Naturally, the ministry of magic sent an owl over to their house, containing a letter to Chessie. He glared at it, and she read it quickly before jumping up with joy happily. She raced over and tackled him, something he had somehow become accustomed to with Sarabella and Kiru, squealing "I got it! I got it! I got the job!"

He grinned, seizing his opportunity to put his hands on her hips, and she squeaked in alarm, putting her hands on his. Within minutes, she had forced him into a tongue war, which he was winning by gagging her profusely and repeatedly. Her hands began to wander, his own body becoming seized by what he detested most about teenagers. He sighed at the ludicrousness of it all, inching his hands down her gown, slowly and sneakily undoing the buttons while protecting his.

"Oh, no you don't," she scolded as he got to her waistline. "Not without compensation, Severus. If I go shirtless, you go shirtless. Got it?"

"Hm, I was thinking a little more long term than that," he whispered.

"Oh. _Oh. _Well, if that's how you want to be, one will remove all the clothes, the other leads," she grinned happily.

"Then I am at your mercy," Snape grinned as he led her to the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes in their wake.

He cracked his eyes open the next day groggily, Chessie asleep with her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. He was startled to find his own hand around her waist, the other on her upper back. It all came rushing back within moments, though, and he smiled triumphantly. He'd gotten married, although not to the first two women of his choice, but this one overshadowed them now. One had betrayed him, the other had gone insane, but this one was still pure – almost – and all his. He frowned, not wanting to lose her to somebody else.

He flinched, then slightly, ever so slightly, he moved out from under her and placed her on the bed gently. He sighed in relief when she didn't awake and ran to the bathroom for relief. She ran in just as he finished, and he stepped back to let her relieve herself. He smirked, and she looked down to find herself a complete mess. She glared back up at him accusatory in her eyes, but with an impish look on her face.

Snape held his hand out and summoned his underwear and Muggle attire into the bedroom to hide them under the pillows. He did likewise with Chessie's, holding the bra out at arm's length.

"Oh, Severus," she sang as she went back into the bedroom. "It's my turn, now."

_Heaven help me,_ he pled silently.

"Chessie?" her male cousin called into the house a few hours later. "Chess, I know you're mad at me, but I'm sorry about the blackmail, okay? I lied, I only did it so you'd start looking for a husband. I don't want you dying alone like that Snape teacher we had for Potions, okay?"

"Should we tell him?" Chessie whispered, just barely clothed.

"Hell no," Severus whispered back. "I want to see the look on his face. Quick, under the blankets, and pretend to be asleep."

"Oh," Chessie whispered and obeyed, positioning themselves exactly as they'd woken up that morning. Snape buried his face in her hair to hide the smirk he had on his face. And, of course, Chessie buried herself in his blankets.

"Oh my god," her cousin murmured as he opened the door quietly. "Chessie, what the hell have you done?"

"Hmm, Severus," Chessie murmured, cuddling closer into his chest. He moved slightly to further bury his grin in her hair, moving his left arm slightly. It was amazing to them how quickly their hormones could rise and die down.

"Oh my god. Oh, Kami, this is illegal," the man muttered, closing the door silently. The Snape duo immediately grinned, pulling out their muggle attire and yanking it on furiously.

"Did you enjoy that, Mrs. Snape?" the potions master grinned, and Chessie jumped.

"I guess it'll take a while to get used to that," she whispered. "Come on, we've got to stop him, _before _he gets you arrested."

"Lead the way," he grinned, and the two raced downstairs, leaping over the banister. Chessie's cousin's eyes widened when he saw the two alert and awake, but most importantly not aroused, although they most certainly smelled like it.

"Hello, Professor," the man grinned sheepishly. "I hadn't heard from my cousin in a few weeks, and I got kind of worried since she usually calls my brother or me, so I thought I'd come check on her."

"By barging into my/her house?" the two snapped, then looked at each other.

"Well, I guess it would make it _our _house, wouldn't it?" she asked quizzically, and the ex-death eater rolled his eyes. "Either way, that's breaking and entering! And I'm your cousin for Kami's sake! You're supposed to _respect _my privacy!"

"Speaking of things that are meant to be respected," Severus growled. "Rules and laws are as well, no matter what country you are in, must also be respected, Ohaka."

"Sure, like teachers are, too," he retorted. "Last I checked, students and teachers are supposed to respect each other, not sleep with each other."

"Ah, but you're forgetting – there are ways around that law," Snape taunted. "For one, she is no longer my student. Second, we are equals under the law as adult witch and wizard. And third, you cannot ban a husband from sleeping with his wife."

"Wait – what?" Ohaku questioned in disbelief. His ears had registered it, but his brain obviously hadn't. Chessie and Severus smirked, trying to keep from laughing and cussing at the same time. "Married?"

"Yes, Ohaku, you idiot cousin," Chessie snapped. "What part of 'husband and wife' did you not understand?"

"But- he said – mom said – how-_when?" _he sputtered confused.

"Yesterday afternoon," Chessie said angrily. "You'd all have known if you idiots hadn't cornered and blackmailed me into it. But, I will admit, I'm glad you guys did. It helped me realize who the love of my life really was."

"Yeah, instead of that bastard Sirius Black," Ohaku sneered. "He got what he deserved to go into Azkaban."

"Without a trial," Severus said coldly. As much as he hated the man, he didn't want him to end up like Frank and Alice Longbottom. He wouldn't with that upon anyone but the true Death Eaters who were enjoying torturing people and destroying homes like that.

"Severus, what time is it?" Chessie asked confused suddenly, and Snape took a look at a clock he had hung at the top of the stairs. "Please tell me it's not noon."

"Ten in the morning," he assured, and she panicked as she raced up the stairs to get in the shower and change clothes. "Blast it, Chessie, stop panicking. You won't be late if you use the Floo Network. Tch, bakamono."

"If it's alright, Professor," Ohaku said sheepishly. "I'll keep quiet if you will."

"Oh, no you don't," Snape glared. "I'm not through with you yet, boy."

The man's eyes widened, and he turned tail as Severus Snape obliviated the scene from the boy's mind. the young adult collapsed, and Snape hefted him onto the front door, conjuring a flask and putting the boy's memory of breaking in into the tiny glasswork and corking it. He smirked widely – revenge was oh so very sweet. He could only hope that Remus' babysitting went as smoothly as his day had been so far, if not smoother.


End file.
